Pioneer businesswoman Marie Sharp, proprietor of Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods Limited, the Belizean company behind her world famous pepper sauce, has been invited to attend the second largest food expo in Asia. Sharp is seizing an opportunity to expand the distribution of her products to Japan, South Korea and mainland China. On Friday, Sharp travels to Seoul, South Korea where she will be networking with importers at the food show in an effort to seal several major investment deals, including the supply of her renowned pepper sauce to over three thousand McDonald’s outlet in the region. According to Sharp, the exposure will also help to boost sales on the foreign market.

Marie Sharp, Proprietor, Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods

Marie Sharp

“We are off to Seoul tomorrow and this trip is being sponsored by the Inter-American Investment Corporation together with FIMPEMI and they are paying a part of our expense of going there. This is the second largest food show in that area of Asia. Now I am very, very lucky that I was already talking to somebody out of Korea who is interested in buying my products. I was also talking to somebody out of Beijing so by getting the opportunity of going to this show I am meeting with those two people already. The one in Beijing was supposed to have started ordering already but he’s waiting to meet us before he places his first order. So I’m very excited about going to this food show because I know I’m going to come back with some purchase orders.”

A complete feature on Marie Sharp’s pepper processing plant, a local business which has been in operation since 1981, will be aired during Friday’s newscast.

Channel 7

MARIE SHARP'S FINE FOODS CHOSEN TO ATTEND SEOUL FOOD TRADE SHOW

The Stann Creek-based Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods is headed for the 2012 Seoul Food Trade Show. The announcement that the company was chosen to attend this year’s event was made via a press release emailed to our News Centre this morning. Marie Sharp’s, which is a producer of jams, fruit squashes and pepper sauces, will join hundreds of other producers from around the world at this three day event which will be held at the Korean International Exhibition Center. Love News spoke with proprietor Marie Sharp via telephone this morning, and she was excited about the opportunity to attend the Food and Trade Show.

Marie Sharp – Businesswoman
“Really this is very good for me because I was already talking to somebody out of Seoul so I think by going to this show I will be able to come back with something concrete from them. I have my hopes that I am going to come back with a contract from the people I am talking to. Thus opportunity came at the correct time. I am taking my pepper sauces and jams and jellies.”

Funding for the participation of Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods in the Seoul 2012 Food and Trade Show is being provided by the Inter-American Investment Corporation. According to Sharpe, her products will be a part of the Caribbean Pavilion and she is hoping that it will help her to launch her products further into the Asian Market beyond Japan and Shanghai. The participation of Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods in this year’s Seoul Food Show comes at a time, when the company is celebrating an important milestone: its thirty second anniversary.

Marie Sharp – Businesswoman
“It has taken a long time but we are eventually getting there. We have been working hard at promoting and selling our products all over the world. We have been successful so far in that the Japanese have already sold into Taiwan and into Hawaii and into France and we have already gotten into Germany, the UK so we are getting there slowly. The difficult part is getting in because getting in is the first step because you have to pass all the ministries of health, you have to give them all your documentation, you have to pay for insurance; insurance that covers product liability. You have to trademark your name because there are people out there who are ready to jump on accessing your name. It is a lot of paperwork and getting in there is a big step. The next step is promoting the product and getting the product going. We are very happy with where we are today, we are getting there slowly. It has taken us the 32 years but I guess a lot of our success can be credited to the tourist industry in Belize.” Marie Sharp and the Marketing Manager for her company Jody Williams are scheduled to depart Belize on Friday enroute to Seoul, South Korea. The Food Show opens on Sunday and runs through to Wednesday.

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