“Business France saved us time and meant we could get in touch with prospects specializing in the business sector in which we wanted to expand”

What does your business do?

Ceetal Laboratories is a French business specializing in the formulation and manufacture of chemical and biochemical products for professionals. It provides chemical solutions for maintenance, hygiene, disinfection and water treatment in several business sectors, but mainly for export in the livestock and agri-food market. We’re currently present in 65 countries and we’d like to continue our international development approach, mainly in the Americas market.

What triggered your international approach?

It’s mainly linked to the structure of the European market, but also to the emergence and opportunities of the international market, particularly in the livestock sector.

What were the targeted destinations and why?

As Latin American Export Manager, I obviously target all Latin American countries, with the exception of Brazil, which is considered to be a separate market.

You called on Team France Export, how did they support you?

We called on Team France Export as part of the Stimulus Cheque Export program, which enabled us to access new prospects and diversify our international development approach, particularly in the wine sector in Argentina. The support from Team France Export was personalized. They understood our field well, which meant we could target contacts with prospects in Argentina. We initially held several virtual meetings and, subsequently, the sector manager of Business France Argentina supported us on an initial visit to the country, in order to meet prospects directly in the province of Mendoza, Argentina.

What was the impact (return on investment) of this support? To what extent did digital technology help you?

The role of Business France was very important for us. It saved us time and meant we could get in touch with prospects specializing in the business sector in which we wanted to expand; in this case, in Argentina, in the wine sector. Digital technology enabled us to optimize our approach, saving us time and minimizing prospecting costs. The use of digital technology meant we could ensure that the prospects selected for a potential representation of our products in this market were the most appropriate. We were able to meet them several times by videoconference, before doing so physically directly on the ground, in Mendoza.