Producers focus on branding as they face Brexit
WHEN Alison Lea-Wilson was at a trade fair in New York many years ago, selling her now-famous Halen Mon sea salt from Anglesey, someone asked her if it was “vegan-friendly”.
Somewhat confused, Mrs Lea-Wilson told the lady, who was from California, that it was salt, of course it was vegan-friendly.
“So you don’t blitz up whales to make it?” came the reply.
Mrs Lea-Wilson was talking about the importance of branding for Welsh exports as part of a Food is Great panel discussion at the Royal Welsh Show.
The American audience in this instance hadn’t recognised Wales as a country and had instead confused it with whales.
It’s an easy mistake – Donald Trump was guilty of the same only a few weeks ago.
In a post-Brexit environment, getting the branding right for Welsh produce will be even more important if Welsh producers are to survive the “horror” that will surely follow, Mrs Lea-Wilson, the co-founder of Halen Mon said.
Halen Mon is an internationally recognised Welsh brand, with a protected designation-of-origin status, making sea salt from the clean, clear seawaters that surround the island of Anglesey in north Wales.
It currently exports to 18 countries outside the UK, half of which are in the EU.
Knowing your market is key, Mrs Lea-Wilson added. “We used to have a product called a salt pig, which didn’t go down well in the Middle East, for obvious reasons.”
Patrick Gee, who set up Llanllyr Water as a farm diversification project in west Wales in 1999, also exports his water products to Europe, as well as North America and the Far East. For him, innovation is the way forward for Welsh exporters in the post-Brexit era.
His company, based in Lampeter, is just about to become the first British bottled water which will be sold in cans rather than plastic bottles.
“Being an artisan producer is very very now,” Mr Gee said. “You can just go into the food hall at the Royal Welsh and see that for yourself.”
That is why Welsh produce can hold its own on the international food stage, he said. “Just by going into cans we have picked up two massive deals in North America,” he added. “Buyers abroad view Wales as a green and pleasant land and it’s that rural aspect that’s really important.”
Even so, in the face of Brexit, both producers are making their own preparations.
“We’ve interrogated our supply chain so we know the machinery we use to make the brine is German,” explained Mrs Lea-Wilson. “That raises issues for spare parts.
“We can’t afford to stockpile our product like some producers have, but we are engaging with our customers and telling them we still want us to be their sea salt of choice. I thought the world was coming to an end, but actually, now, I’m optimistic about carrying on.”
For Mr Gee, who sources everything from the UK, it means he will focus more on the North American and Far Eastern markets after Brexit. “I am fully expecting our European customers to ask for a price reduction,” said Mr Gee.