Conversations With the Buyer: Eurok USA

You are currently viewing Conversations With the Buyer: Eurok USA

Now that we’ve explored buyer insights from Singapore and the Middle East, let’s turn our attention to the US market! At Fine Food 2024, Export Connect hosted a USA Market Insights session, followed by a Q&A with the Director of Operations at Eurok Inc. Now let’s check out what they had to say about the key trends, challenges and opportunities for Australian exporters in the US market.

About the Buyer: Eurok Inc

EUROK Inc imports and distributes unique and distinctive foods from Europe and the UK, and is now looking to build a portfolio of Australian brands to promote to their customer base in all 50 states in the USA. One of their major customers is Central Market, a gourmet grocery store chain in Texas offering specialty fresh produce, chef-prepared meals and an inviting store experience taking shoppers on an immersive food adventure. Importantly, Export Connect understands that Central Market plans to feature Australian brands in 2025.

Q&A Insights

Question 1: What is the consumer sentiment like at the moment? Do you feel things are on the way up, or the way down?

It’s interesting in Texas, because the economy there is very strong. But things definitely vary from state to state. For instance, the difference in the economy between Texas and Georgia is huge. During the pandemic, many stores just closed down in Georgia and never opened back up. But now, in Texas and generally across the US, things are very much on the upswing. Much like you would have experienced here in Australia, people started to cook again during the pandemic, some people planted gardens, and learned to bake bread again. Cooking shows are a big thing again, and on these shows they’re talking a lot about fresh, healthy food and sustainability. And I think that’s a trend we’re seeing in the food industry generally around the world and in the US. The restaurant business is definitely stronger among young people, but there are large groups of older generations that are still cooking at home. I’m certainly biased because I work in the specialty food realm and I shop at Central Market, so I buy lots of great food and so I don’t eat out as much. But all in all, I’d say that people are buying fresh food, and from a consumer sentiment standpoint, it’s strong.

Question 2: When we’re looking at the price of products on the shelf at Central Market versus Walmart for example, are consumers paying a premium price?

Central Market is quite unique because they price-match to Walmart. For example, if a bottle of Heinz Ketchup is on the shelf at Walmart for $2.37, that’s how much it’ll be at Central Market – they don’t charge a premium. The parent company, HEB, that owns Central Market, charges the same prices. So you’ll never pay more at a Central Market if it’s the exact same product on the shelf as at HEB. Because Central Market is offering specialty products, a lot of people think it’s more expensive, but it’s just because you can find items that you can’t find anywhere else in Texas. The New York Strip Steak that they sell at Central Market versus what they sell at Walmart are two different animals, literally. They trace by genome at Central Market and its phenomenal quality. I won’t buy it anywhere else. Naturally, you’re going to be paying more, $20.00 a pound for New York strip versus Walmart where you’re going to pay $9.99 per pound. But people know that, and they stand in line to buy it because they know it’s the best and they trust it.

Question 3: What are you seeing from a retail trend perspective? How important is e-commerce for the retail banners?

E-commerce was huge during the pandemic for Central Market. Of course, just like in Australia, they shut down contact departments and everyone became an e-commerce employee. That really leads the charge in terms of retail trends. As far as store sales, I don’t think sales are down in the realm of specialty that we’re in. I think within regular retailers, if you’re looking at Kroger or United (which is Albertsons), I wouldn’t say sales are down because everything we’re reading and seeing shows discount retailers are surging. Costco sales are up too. Specialty stands out very differently. People are seeking healthy, quality food and when they’re spending money, they want to spend it on something good. So it’s stable for us.

Question 4: The US is a huge market and it’s often described as a mistake to take it as one homogenous space.Where are you seeing most of the activity?

From a geographical perspective, I think the West Coast, places like California for instance, has certainly always been the trendsetter. In the Pacific Northwest, we’re also seeing a lot of activity. The Northeast is quite different, so in places like Jersey and New York we’re seeing a huge shift in population. A lot of these Northeastern cities were fueled by industrial growth, just like in Pennsylvania, and the populations have moved away because there’s a lot of taxation. They’re moving south to states with no state income tax, like Texas, Florida, Tennessee. So a lot of people are moving to those regions and food is following suit, because that’s where the money is. The Baby Boomers are now retiring and they’re moving to these states which are warmer and where the economies are better, so their money goes further.

Question 5: From a category perspective, what are the trends you’re seeing? 

Health and wellness are certainly major trends. One of the first things I do when products are presented to us is turn them over and look at their ingredients. The people with money in the US are the baby boomers, and they’re health-conscious. When it comes to organic food, there are lots of regulatory changes in the US right now, making it difficult to import organic products. But I think people really just want to know if something is healthy, so they’re looking for products that aren’t overloaded with sodium and preservatives.

People are also very interested in ethnic cuisine, whether it be Asian or European or Australian, they’re looking for products that can elevate the dishes they’re creating. For instance, they can take their fresh ingredients and add an ingredient like a sauce or a base to elevate that meal. The jar pasta sauce category in the US has always been strong and it’s not slowing down. And it’s a huge category with one of the largest shelf placements in Central Market because the quality of the ingredients is just incredible. I buy pasta sauce all the time because who has time to make it from scratch nowadays.

Question 6: How do you go about getting products sold once they reach the store?

Anybody can get a product in the store, but is it going to flop? I see so many products where a producer will come in extremely confident, and I just know it’s gonna be a tough sell. Demo, support and education to the consumer is extremely important. There are products that transcend price because they’re so great. The thing is, you need to get them into the consumer’s mouth and let them try it. 

Question 7: What do Australian exporters need to do to get their product ready for the US and how do you help them with that?

FDA compliance and labelling is a huge thing. We help every import customer and every import vendor become compliant in labelling. They have to do the work, but we help point them in the right direction. 

We also assist brands in getting the product to stores.We handle all of the container shipping, and consolidation over here and and then transport from the port in the US. All of our containers come into the Port of Houston, and we put them on a truck, which is a four hour drive to Dallas, and we then categorise everything in our warehouse, and we distribute it out so, so that part we just do once, once you’ve got all the labelling approved and everything, the easy part is that letting us take care of the shipping. Getting into consolidation on time is a bigger deal than anything, because if you miss that container, it costs everybody more money. And if a product is out of stock, retailers will drop it.