jfc81 wrote:ksl wrote:
I know the Middle East very well having lived out there and have many connections, yes i have the experience of import & export out there.
Very interesting. I have a long standing interest in the region and have also lived there (egypt, kuwait for year and a half) and have a BA in Middle East Studies-Arabic. I wonder if there is any way to offer these services to a company doing business between Malaysia/Singapore and the Gulf, for example. I am aware of substantial cultural and trade links, but I have no experience in import/export and want to learn.
I didn't mean any offense about the vinegar blog. You are obviously fluent and well-spoken in English. And I really was serious when inquiring about how the drinking vinegar business is. Have you considered saying something on the blog like how good it tastes, so as to counteract peoples' sure-to-be-automatic revulsion to the idea? Vinegar tastes BAD, at least in my experience.
Vinegar drinking for health was established hundreds of years ago, and today there are markets well established in almost every country in the world, although these markets are traditional vinegar drinking like apple cider vinegar, mixed with water and honey. These vinegars taste like vinegars!
Agricultural chemistry and biotechnology, have advanced a great deal, where traditional vinegar makers cannot compete in the development of health beverages. so no need to tell anyone that it tastes nice, becuase the established vinegar consumers will want to taste it for themselves.
What i mean is that if a market already exists for vinegar, it makes sense to take that market share first and it's easier to penetrate the market as a whole, with a superior product, being more functional and tasty, the word by mouth is more appropriate, becuase it is about education.
Dubai is very health conscious along with many other places in the middle east, and the most popular was apple vinegar, bueberry and fig. However these are not drinking vinegars, although people take them for their health benefits, mixed with water, unfortuantely these taste of vinegar. and are made for foods rather than beverages.
Education about acids, is the main problem, for those that believe that acids are not good for you.
Your time in the middle east may bare fruit, however if you have no experience in import or export, you haven't much to offer. My suggestion is if you are looking for that kind of experience, you should move to the Middle East and import a drinking vinegar, to be the fist to do it under guidance, will give you all the practical experience you need. Under guidance may ensure you avoid the pitfalls of dealing with the Middle East.
For a Company here in Singapore/Malaysia to take you on without other skills in business, would be highly unlikely, in this economic climate. Although if you have been dealing with handicraft or other import/export business, you should have a basic idea, of what is involved so you should consider being your own boss.
When doing any type of import & export business, you need be able to distribute through a sales channel and support that sales channel, through promotional effort, so the sales channel wins, and you win too.
You cannot rely on the sales channel alone to sell for you, they will not and if your product doesn't sell, they will delist your product, it's that simple. So are you outsourcing products or looking for employment?
(literally)Do not get caught in Singapore breaking laws, they like to set examples. Believe me you are being watched by your competitors, so take some good advice to ensure you stay within the boundaries of the law...there are no second chances and ignorance is not bliss!
Import is very strict, but it is the importer that stands the wrath of the law, you cannot just turn around and say well everyone here in Singapore is doing the same, because that is just ignorance of the laws, and it doesn't wash if someone complains unless you are covered. 
cos I do not want to be 'smacked' or get a kick on my butt just because of my ignorance.
