China’s manufacturing base is much more dependent on cheaper-less-technical goods in sectors as textiles, apparel, appliances, as well as certain commodities. The U.S. manufacturing base requires significantly more engineering and skilled labor – reigning supreme in fields such as aircraft, special industrial machinery, medical and scientific equipment, and media-related industries, including software.

The global middle class is expanding – with more than 1 billion new individuals in the last decade. These consumers have purchasing power like never before seen and are using this newly created wealth to abundantly acquire higher quality products.

Even in nations that disagree with our standards, “The Made in America” brand globally signifies to consumers an element of trust that the goods represent the highest of quality.

Unfortunately, only 1 percent of U.S. companies export their products. Of that 1 percent, just over 50 percent export to just one country. Confronting a lack of basic information or guidance about the export process, the majority of domestic entrepreneurs and corporate decision makers fear foreign competition and conduct business strictly within our domestic borders.

In order to succeed in helping small and medium-sized American businesses sell more goods and services around the world (so they can create additional jobs here at home), we need to out innovate, out-educate, out-compete, and out-hustle other nations in order for America to win the future.

The world wants our products – the world can afford our products – we need the assistance of our governing administrations to help spread this message.

See: http://www.productgss.com/2011/03/china-manufacturing-edges-out-u-s-in-manufacturing-but-is-no-match-for-u-sproductivity/

Peter Groverman Testifies In front of PA State Senate and Philadelphia City Council

Grovara:

Seeing the opportunity to export, I founded an International Distribution Company called Grovara LLC. Grovara takes US manufactured products and sells them to distributors abroad. We only sell products which we believe-in and act as a logistics coordinator & ‘cultural intermediary’ between the foreign buyers and the domestic producers.

In 1990 technology experts predicted that the Internet would revolutionize the way society would conduct business. At Grovara – we forecast the next revolution is ‘International Commerce.’ Teachers, coaches, lawyers, doctors, nurses, technologists, and athletes – all crossed your path – providing thousands of handshakes, meetings, and luncheons – but how many of them engaged in the business of exporting? How many have dealt on the international level? Probably only a few (if any).

New technologies like social media allow for faster connections and stream lined communications. Transactions and interactions that used to take weeks can now be done in seconds. The times of “Long Distance Calls” have come and gone – the world is continuously becoming closer and closer. This past week Mark Zuckerberg messaged 1 Billion people to announce that FaceBook had obtained it’s 1 Billionth subscriber. At the click of a button he was able to message 1/6th of the planet’s population – generations’ past would have considered this a Super Power.

In addition to a world with streamlining communications, there exist incredible initiatives that make exporting easy. Both State and Federal Government groups provide programs to assist businesses on the International level – seminars, grants, and trade missions to name a few.

With a never-ending growing demand for our goods, streamlined communications, and government
support – why are there not more people in our networks exporting?

Industry Problems:

The Grovara team has identified several major problems amongst each of the critical players with-in the international transaction cycle – barriers which need to be addressed in order to help increase
US exports:

For Manufacturers:

Especially with mid-size or smaller companies, exporting is outside the scope of most manufacturers expertise – in some cases they lack the sales network, infrastructure, or knowledge to take their products abroad. Exporting seems risky, scary, and in some cases
a distraction.

Knowledge of Federal grants and programs incentivizing exports is limited within this demographic and industry trends currently emphasize domestic sales over foreign ones.

For International Brokers:

Playing the role of either a middleman or consultant – international brokers have traditionally limited their global reach and footprint to certain regions or demographics due to several common factors:

1) They have a core competency in a specific region or niche market
2) Expanding takes time and focus that they might not specifically have
3) Creating new distribution channels is expensive and might be seen as a distraction
4) Finding new & credible distributors is tedious
5) Managing multiple relationships without the proper infrastructure can bedifficult

Federal/State Government Services & Private Associations:

As wonderful as all Government programs and initiatives promoting international business are – only a limited amount of domestic manufacturers take advantage of what they have to offer.

New programs, initiatives, educational seminars, grants, and trade leads/missions have a restricted reach and though are prevalent; do not receive ample promotion to break-through to become priorities for manufacturers.

Financial Lending Institutions:

Though some International Distributors pay cash up-front, many turn-to financing options in order to complete the payment portion of their international business transactions. When it comes to financing, most foreign banks are less developed & mature as compared
with US banks – creating high fees for payments, little if any extensions of credit, and lengthy processing delays relative to our domestic business expectations. In Latin America alone, a standard issue Letter of Credit can see banking fees ranging from 14 – 18%.

Change In Philadelphia:

Philadelphia needs to create an awareness campaign informing the public that not only does the rest of the world exist – but that there are billions of people craving US manufactured products & services. Furthermore, the City must take an aggressive approach in educating local corporations of the public assistance programs that are provided to encourage business among these emerging
global markets.

I would recommend the city/state establish a Public/Private partnership to create an International Exporting Incubator – similar to that which was done with venture capital backed incubator - DreamIt Ventures. This incubator would initially educate a select few local companies – and help them get over the initial hurdles necessary to get their goods on store shelves abroad.

Analyst Insight By Ewa Hudson, Global Head of Health and Wellness Research

Euromonitor International’s latest packaged food data shows that fruit snacks are among the best-performing categories in sweet and savoury snacks. By the end of 2012, on a global level, fruit snacks are projected to have made value gains of just over 5%, compared to chips/crisps’ 3% and the 4% growth trajectory currently being recorded for tortilla/corn chips and extruded snacks. Overall, sweet and savoury snacks is heading for a 4% global value sales increase in 2012, marking out fruit snacks as a definite growth driver.

In Asia Pacific, fruit snacks are leading the pack with a projected 13% value increase for 2012, and in Latin America they top the growth charts with a deeply impressive 20%. The category’s notable performance in Latin America is in great part down to PepsiCo’s Natuchips brand, which accounts for almost half of regional value sales (US$20 million) in 2012. The brand leads in major markets like Colombia and Venezuela, and has a presence in several others in the region.

The trio who received the most votes in an online Business Journal poll wereRosemarie Greco, the region’s first female bank chief; former Mayor and Governor Ed Rendell; and Stephen M. Goodman, a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius and a pre-eminent startup consultant.

The event was at the Marketplace Design Center at 2400 Market St. on Wednesday, June 20. There was a panel discussion featuring restaurateurs hosted by Biz Bytes writer Peter Van Allen, several food vendors handing out scrumptious samples and live music. See this slideshow to find out who else made the list of 30 MVPs.Click on the photo at right to see photos of the top three and a slideshow from the anniversary event.

- Courtesy of www.bizjournals.com

The middle class in China has topped more than 300 million people. And they are a growing factor in the world’s economy.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — CNNMoney interviewed Helen Wang, author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World’s Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You. A consultant, Wang was raised in China and has lived in the United States for more than 20 years.

Q. Who are the middle class in China?

A. I define middle class as households with an annual income of between $10,000 and $60,000 U.S. dollars. But income is a little misleading because the cost of living in China is very different. A rule of thumb is a household with a third of its income for discretionary spending is considered middle class.

In China, the middle class is all concentrated in big cities, not like in this country, where a lot of the middle class are in the suburbs. Most people have a college education and relatively stable jobs. There are a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of white collar workers, working for multinationals or state-owned companies.

They are a lot younger … 20 to 50. A lot of them own homes. Like Westerners, they want everything Americans have.

This new middle class just emerged in the last 15 to 20 years. Fifteen years ago, people didn’t have cars yet. But in the last seven, eight, or nine years … everyone has a car. Some people have more than one car.

Q. How big is the Chinese middle class?

A. It is estimated that it’s more than 300 million — already larger than the entire population of the United States.

About 25% of the population is middle class. It’s about 50% of the urban population.

Q. How did the middle class climb the economic ladder?

A. A lot of it is entrepreneurship. With China’s economy growing over the last 20 to 30 years, there have been a lot of business opportunities.

Some people still go to college and then get good jobs. A lot of multinationals employ these young college graduates. They pay relatively better than Chinese companies. Many foreign companies are contributing to creating the white-collar middle class.

Chinese state companies also employ a lot of people. Their income has more than tripled over the last 10 or 15 years.

Q. How are they changing China?

A. The Chinese are shopping a lot more. Retail is booming like a wildfire in China. There are a lot more consumers and they are demanding a lot more services.

A lot of Chinese, especially younger consumers, are really into the luxury brands. They associate Western luxury brands with quality of life and sophistication. They want gyms, health care clubs and definitely travel. They want to see the world. The restaurant business is doing very well.

The younger generation — people under 30 — they are consuming like crazy. They save zero. They spend all of their salary on a Louis Vuitton purse. A lot of them stay with their parents so they don’t have housing expenses. But once they get married, then they start to save.

Q. Are they concerned about the economy and their financial positions?

A. They know China is growing wildly, and they’re very busy trying to catch this opportunity. They know China won’t grow at this high speed forever and they know the window of opportunity will close. They know government won’t take care of them anymore. They have to take care of themselves.

Q. What is the future of the Chinese middle class?

A. The Chinese middle class may grow to 700 to 800 million, which is 50% to 60% of China’s entire population. In the past, all the predictions have proven to be too conservative.

But on the other hand, a lot of Chinese will be in the lower middle class because education will prevent them from moving up. If young people start going into vocational schools, that’s for lower skilled jobs.

Q. What does that mean for the U.S. and the rest of the world?

A. It means a lot of opportunities for American companies selling in China.

A lot of U.S. companies are doing extremely well in China. While GM filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, their sales in China soared. Chinese consumers helped GM to turn around.

Nike is doing so well, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken. A lot of smaller companies are looking to sell into China. That will help the American economy.

Because of rising wages in China, we are already seeing some manufacturing jobs come back to this country. Those jobs will continue coming back and that will create jobs in the U.S. as well.

The same thing goes for the Western economy in general. Chinese consumers love Italian products. They want Italian products made in Italy.

Q. What are the barriers to entry for those still in poverty?

A. If you are born in urban China, you can go to public school and you enjoy a lot of government benefits. For rural Chinese, they have none of these. If you’re born in the rural area, you can’t even live in the cities. That’s gradually changing. They let the rural people come into the cities to do the work. But there are still restrictions.

There is no future for people who live in the villages. There are still a lot of barriers for those people to move up the economic ladder.

- Courtesy of CNN Money

21steps to just BEGIN the registration for an insecticide product in Saudi Arabia. It’s no wonder 99% of US Manufacturers do NOT export. What a barrier to enhancing trade relations. But what if these barriers were decreased or dropped? International Treaties and Free Trade Agreements are great for decreasing tariffs but more must be done to regulate global registrations.

 Grovara wants to thank Joe Petrucci and the entire Flying Kite team for the great entrepreneur article on their blog.

Please click on the link: http://www.flyingkitemedia.com/features/groverman0327.aspx

As the world population continues to grow – the demand for meat, dairy, and other food-farm-based products continues to rise.  Grovara understanding this trend has sourced thousands of Livestock Feed Supplements – raw materials necessary for farmers to ensure a healthy flock and stock of animal.

What are Livestock Feed Supplements?

 Everyone is aware of Human Supplements – go to your local gym or GNC and they line the shelves and countertops – humans consume them to make-up for a lack of natural consumption and limited diet.

 The same philosophy holds true for animals.

 Whether it is cattle, swine, or poultry – all farmers feed their animals a basic feed.  Most feeds are comprised of Soy or Corn.  In addition to this base feed product, farmers have additives they include in their animals diets to make-up for a lack of natural intake of vitamins and nutrients. 

 Every farmer has their own ‘feed formula’ that they use to promote the healthiest breed of stock for their herd.

 Why Livestock Feed Supplements?

 The world population continues to grow and so does the growth of an emerging middle-class.  With more money in their pockets, humans across the globe are continuously purchasing more and more high-end goods.  They also are eating better.  In a world that used to run on rice & beans – proteins, meats, fish, and produce are becoming more regular dietary additions. 

 More meats mean more animals which means more animal feeds – this is where Grovara comes into the equation.

 So we’ve come down under to explore the market opportunity.  We are visiting several of the countries largest agriculture distributors.  Driving is a bit of a challenge (they drive on the wrong side of the road and who in God’s name can tell me what a ‘Hook Turn’ is?!? ) – but we are excited about the possible market potential.

 Have a look click here (http://goaustralia.about.com/od/practicalinformation/a/hookturn.htm)

 Fun Facts:

 Without Federal subsidies (mostly to the meat and dairy industry), a meal at McDonald’s for a family of four would cost $75 and single hamburger $18.

In 2008 Australia, which has no farm subsidies, just passed the U.S. as the fattest nation.

-          Courtesy of Peter Groverman