Hey John,
I am writing up a mock discussion that I would have with the supplier of the pastries to flesh out any flaws in my thinking and to refine my approach so that I may not be surprised in my first conversation.
So here are a few thoughts/questions that came up in that process.
The goal of the conversation is to determine the supplier's intention and orientation toward exporting their products and then sell the supplier on testing an overseas market making it no more difficult than a domestic sale. So, at the point the supplier may identify that he/she has no intention or desire to get into exporting and I have sold them on testing the market, I now want to go for the MOQ.
***Good set up...***
So, my difficulty now is how to find the facts needed to construct the MOQ FOB within my conversation with the supplier.
1. Do I thank him for his time and ask for email address to follow up with him to obtain the needed facts to construct the MOQ FOB? or do I simply get the info on the line at that moment (my preference)?
***He probably does not have that at hand, plus you need not the smallest order possible, but the smallest order rational (given logistics, etc). YOu start is whatever their minimum order requirement is normally, and then make that at least a 1.2 pallet, and go fr, there.. that is back and forth discussion, with a sales manager or someone else, normally..***
2. When asking for MOQ, my thought would be to ask for a pricing schedule as I already know that he ships out domestically just one package of the pastry or a case (at 20% off).
***Sure, but no need to be so price conscisious yet... people are testing at thsi stage, buyer and sellers, not makign money...***
3. As I see it, here is the following facts necessary: pricing schedule for various quantities,
***No... just one QTY***
size of package/case/pallet,
***No, just one...***
lead time for each aspect of pricing schedule, ingredients list (do I need percentages?),
***Yes...***
shelf life (best by/good until dates), weights - anything else necessary?
***Your broker may tell you more... but keep in mind..
1. A clerk gives you this info...
2. It is all based on one inalterable offer (tos tart)
3. The freight forwarder will in serial say “o yea, this too...”
so it is a process that takes a week or two...***
4. Since I want to make this easy, how much of this should I discover on my own?
*** Sure, prime the pump, fill in qhat you can, and let them correct...***
How far do I go with those sorts of questions?
***Whatever is necesary and sufficient to create a MOQ FOB
http://josephawodutire.ca/yomm-beverages/
***
5. When looking at the ingredients list (as I am certain that this impacts the defining of the HTS number) is that a freight forwarder's work based on a food label?
***You can do that step..***
6. I know this prospective supplier would sell a case of 6 pkgs and ship it out. That seems rather small to be a true, reasonable test. So if he were to respond to my MOQ request with, I would go 'minimum of a case' what would be my approach....is that tooooooo small? me thinks so, but am interested in your response.
***What is the price of a half-pallet (prolly still too small) vs full pallet... about 3.5 feet high vs 7 feet high...?***
7. I also am concerned that in discussion with the prospective supplier about ingredients that he may become skeptical as to me trying to steal a recipe. How might I overcome/preclude that possibility? Or do I need to?
***Ingredients one thing, production is another... his ingredients are permanent public record somewhere anyways... research this question first so you know what you need to know... if you are nervous on this point, you’ll probably fumble the ball...
buy a pack, study it, take it to a FF, and ask them what you need... start with that, later if a customer wants more, you will then say “The customer needs....” not “I need...”
Then you’ll know... make sense?
John
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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