Client Stories

“The Market Entry Pathway stopped us chasing three ASEAN markets at once. We still disagree with one of their rankings — the Singapore score felt harsh for our premium honey — but the pilot plan for Queensland was concrete enough to take to the bank.”

Helen’s Trade Compliance Brief flagged a labelling claim we were about to print on 8,000 units. Fixing the artwork cost us a week; reprinting would have cost the shipment margin.

Distributor Search produced four meetings. Two were dead ends. One importer asked for exclusivity we would not give. The fourth is now moving our first mixed pallet into Fiji — slower than I hoped, but cleaner than the cold-email approach we tried alone.

Extended note: Scoping visit in Brisbane

A Canterbury bakery ingredients maker asked us to test whether foodservice distributors would carry a gluten-free mix range. Over three days we walked independent bakeries, met two importers, and sat with a regional chef network contact. Shelf prices for comparable mixes sat lower than the client’s planned wholesale — a finding that hurt — yet one importer proposed a narrow foodservice-only trial that avoided supermarket slotting fees. The client deferred retail entry for twelve months and funded a smaller foodservice pilot instead.

Extended note: Pathway for a Pacific island first shipment

A Northland coconut-based snack brand assumed Samoa was the natural first stop. Our scoring still favoured Samoa for cultural fit, but logistics and cold-chain gaps pushed a drier SKU into the pilot while the chilled line waited. The Pathway document became the brief for their freight forwarder and for a family contact who later introduced a small wholesaler in Apia.