SHANNON LONG: At Brew Export, our overarching goal is to really connect the world through beer.
We export craft beer all over the world,
I work with about 40 different craft
breweries all over the United States and
about twenty of them, about half, are based
here in the great state of Michigan.
Today we're here at Dark Horse brewery
and they are one of my, if not my
favorite, brewery to partner with. We've
exported their beer to Portugal, the U.K., Spain, Canada - all over the world we've
sent their beer. I absolutely love the
International Marketing Program at the
Michigan Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development. They have made
exporting so much easier on me. They're
there to answer so many questions, to
connect you with buyers, to provide you
with data that's probably worth
thousands of dollars for subscriptions
that I can't afford. When I have a
question or want to get in contact with
the International Marketing Program at MDARD,
I just email them or I pick up
the phone and call them and they always
respond to me, you know, within the hour
if not within the day. So when I have
questions that are timely, I know I can
always rely on them with a quick answer
or at least if they don't have the
answer they know someone who does so
they can quickly, you know, send me an
introduction and get me to the right
place or the right people that I need.
One of the most important things about
exporting is having really strong
contracts for both your suppliers as
well as your international distributors.
And where do you find these awesome
international lawyers at? I didn't know,
so I had reached out to the
International Marketing Program and they
connected me with several different
options and I went with the one that fit
best for me. The International Marketing
Program is a great resource to learn
more about countries that you might be
interested in. If a buyer from Brazil
let's say reaches out to you and you're
not sure if the Brazilian market is
perfect for you, you can email the
International Marketing Program and you
can ask them, "hey, can you send me some
data on craft beer, the beer market, or
the whole alcohol market in Brazil?" I
really encourage companies all over the
state of Michigan to consider the
international sales and start exporting.
It's a huge opportunity to diversify
your portfolio of markets. I really have
to thank the International Marketing
Program at MDARD for making Brew Export an
export success and they're helping share
American craft beer with the world.
What's better than that? Cheers!
