Why B2B matchmaking, trade shows and trade missions boost exports

Business-to-business (B2B) matchmaking events and Team Canada trade missions to international markets can accelerate your export growth in four significant ways:

1. They help you find international customers, often giving you market diversification opportunities.
2. They expand your sales in markets you’re already in.
3. They help you find reliable suppliers and partners abroad.
4. They increase your profile—and hopefully, your sales—with potential customers and partners.

“In my experience, the most valuable business opportunities often start with a handshake at a B2B event,” says Glen Millard, EDC’s regional vice-president for Ontario.  

These events are efficient because they allow you to introduce your company and products or services to many potential customers in Canadian and foreign markets in just a few days. They’re also a great opportunity to:

• make contacts with distributors, representatives and partners;
• carry out international market research;
• connect with competitors and see how they operate; and
• build a network with customers, government officials who run programs that can support your growth and enthusiastic representatives who can help strengthen your brand.

“B2B events and trade missions are where real export growth begins,” says Lora Rigutto Vigliatore, a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) and the partnerships and community lead at the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT). “The connections you make can open doors you never imagined.”

But it’s not as simple as it sounds. You need to make sure you choose the right event in the right market.

Export Development Canada (EDC) hosts matchmaking events at certain trade shows. For example, last March, EDC conducted roundtables at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the leading mineral exploration and mining convention in Toronto.

Industry experts with EDC’s Business Connections Program will introduce you to a select group of global business leaders looking for suppliers and partners, so you can access new opportunities and close deals faster.

EDC has been running a connections program for more than seven years and agri-food—particularly in the food and beverage space—as one of our key focus areas.

SIAL Canada, North America’s largest food innovation trade show, is an annual B2B event designed for buyers and decision-makers in the grocery, retail, food service and food processing sectors. 

“It’s a perfect opportunity for EDC and our partners to come together to introduce Canadian exporters to buyers looking for their goods or services,” says Jeremy Melhuish, EDC’s vice-president, Sectors & International Advisory.

Alternating between Toronto and Montreal, it features more than 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries, allowing businesses in the agri-food sector “to explore trends, discover new products and foster business connections,” says Melhuish.

Team Canada Trade Missions are delivered by the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), often led by a senior minister or Canada’s chief trade commissioner. They vary in size and area of focus, but always have a goal of helping Canadian exporters succeed in international markets. They offer unique networking opportunities, onsite briefings, market overviews, roundtables and B2B meetings. See the TCS’s calendar of events for more information, eligibility requirements and application processes.

To find the right trade show for your business, research relevant industry associations and trade publications, provincial programs, chambers of commerce, convention centres and visitors’ bureaus.

To determine the value of an event, assess its relevance to your company’s industry and market, the costs of participating, its location to your desired markets, the amenities it offers and the business demographics of the audience. Often, you’ll want shows attended by a large number of senior executives to allow you to network with key decision-makers. 

Now that you’ve chosen an appropriate event, you need to start preparing your booth (if you’re going to be an exhibitor), choosing staff to attend, planning B2B meetings and devising a strategy around them as part of your trade show plan.

Know what your value proposition is and set it out in a compelling way providing media kits, business cards, company fact sheets, demonstrations and company badges and branding for staff.

“We started with some brilliant meetings which were already preset by EDC when exhibiting at SIAL,” says Shamroze Khan, sales director at Rubicon Exotic, a global fruit drink maker for more than 40 years.

“I knew well in advance that Day 1, I would meet the director of procurement for Lidl, a U.S. grocery chain and then meet the category manager for Soriana, the Mexican retail store. I immediately made some valuable connections,” he adds.

After the show, make sure you follow up on all leads and figure out how to measure the trade show’s return on investment.

At a North American B2B event connected to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), a Canadian health-care company with recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval identified U.S. buyers and partners. After the event, the company needed additional funding to support its export growth. EDC’s Export Guarantee Program (EGP) and Export Credit Insurance (ECI) enabled the firm to secure bank financing. Together, these two programs helped accelerate its U.S. market entry.

Financing and risk tools that enable growth

EDC’s Export Guarantee Program provides guarantees of up to $25 million to your bank so it can extend your access to working capital. Export Credit Insurance, also known as Trade Credit Insurance, includes Select Credit Insurance and Portfolio Credit Insurance, offering flexible coverage for exporters at different stages of growth. 

If events aren’t already part of your export strategy, they should be. Once you’ve reviewed our advice, consult the Trade Commissioner Service’s calendar of trade-related events to map out your year.