Antad Recap: Buyers, Brands Look For Opportunities To Get Ahead of Supply Chain, Competitors
Expo Antad is back.
After going virtual due to the pandemic in 2020, the most important food and beverage retail trade show in Mexico welcomed 35,000 visitors in late October at Expo Guadalajara, including more than 600 exhibitors, highlighting the very latest in healthy and in-demand flavors, connections with international buyers, and the growing demand for better-for-you products across Mexico.
Grovara made a huge splash at Expo Antad & Alimentaria 2021 with a spacious, fully-staffed double-booth setup, providing samples of dozens of products from its online marketplace for American, organic and natural food and beverage brands. Grovara’s Director of International Sales for Latin America Eugenia Schlitter estimates her team gave 50 demos of the company’s platform, which enables easy exporting in just seven total clicks.
“Consumers knew about our brands and were especially excited about kombucha, plant-based milk, cold brew coffee, and healthy snacks,” says Schlitter, who also delivered a live demo with Grovara Co-Founder and CEO Abu Kamara during a technology showcase.
“The most interested consumers for our products and categories were women under 35 who travel often and people looking for healthy energy sources for training and active lifestyle” says Ricardo Ticó, Grovara marketing specialist for Latin America. “Frozen foods, dairy-free products, and keto options were also in high demand at Expo Antad.”
The sales team had meetings with buyers from some of the most important retailers in Mexico, including Soriana (with 800 stores in Mexico accounting for around 12% of supermarkets’ market share), Chedraui (with more than 300 stores including 20 premium stores named Selecto), La Comer (with 73 stores, including 12 premium supermarkets, focused on high-level international and national gourmet products called City Market), and regional markets like Casa Ley (with more than 250 stores in the North West of Mexico) among others.
“For buyers, supply chain-related concerns were top of mind. Increasingly, retailers and distributors are interested in shelf life, delivery time, and consolidated pallets/containers as the global supply chain continues its slow recovery from the pandemic,” says Lorena Colín, sales manager for Latin America.
Buyers are also interested in tools that assist with compliance, pricing, communication with sellers, and marketing. Grovara’s platform streamlines the many steps of exporting, providing solutions to manage documents, communications, fulfillment, and payment.
“With a growing appetite for healthy foods and beverages and a growing market for its own healthy and flavorful brands, Mexico will play an even larger role in worldwide commerce, especially as it gets more connected with Grovara’s easy global wholesale experience,” says Kamara.
