It wasn’t easy setting a date to catch up with Dionne Laslo-Baker – since the launch of her company’s export initiative, the owner of DeeBee’s SpecialTea Foods has embarked on a whirlwind circuit of promotions to grow the U.S. market for her BC-based line of unique frozen treats.
Concerned over the nutritional deficit of most frozen novelties, Dionne was determined to tap into the multimillion-dollar North American industry with an unprecedented product. DeeBee’s Organic TeaPops represent the first certified non-GMO, organic, kosher, vegan, tea-based treat that are also gluten, dairy and soy free. As a product that caters to a growing consumer base seeking healthier, allergy-friendly alternatives, TeaPops have earned acclaim from editors for World Tea Media, the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America, to name a few.
Help from the Export Program
While eager to build on this momentum, Dionne needed some help for the next critical steps. As a funding recipient of the BC Agrifood & Seafood Export Program, matching funding helped her pursue her target market by developing new promotional materials, traveling to international events and networking with retailers and media. Exhibiting at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California proved a pivotal turning point for the young company. “Natural Products Expo West is the biggest food show in North America for the natural and organic market,” explains Dionne. “Having support to participate really meant breaking into the natural and organic market and accessing buyers for the West Coast … this is the show you really want to have a presence at.”
Coast to Coast
The event was so successful that Dionne reapplied for funding to attend Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore, Maryland. The two shows combined have generated a total of 150 retail leads, which Dionne and her growing team are currently pursuing. “We’re now listed in Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco and Sprouts stores in 12 states, thanks to Export funding,” says Dionne. “I’ve really been blown away at how much support is available that continues to help us to launch into the US.”
What’s next for the jet-setting scientist and CEO?
“We’re looking to expand our presence within the Whole Foods Market chain and anticipate we’ll reach $2 million in export sales in 2015,” she reports. With interest growing internationally from countries like England, India, Sweden, Israel and Mexico, she may even surpass herself.
Funding: $23,817 through the BC Agrifood & Seafood Export Program under Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. (EX027, EX027.02)
