50 Favourite Exporters

NSW

Brookfarm

Exporting since: 2002

Key markets: US, UK.

With five years of export experience, Brookfarm’s gourmet food products are now flying to the US, UK, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, India, the Maldives, among other locations.

Their export story began after creating initial contacts, facilitated by Austrade, at the Fine Food Trade Show. While export is currently only 10 percent of their business, they’re working to raise that number. Founders Pam and Martin Brook now employ 17 staff to keep up with demand for their products.

Brookfarm’s clean and green farm and paddock-to-plate story has had a hand in its success, but the Brooks are also devoted to making sure their high quality product is well-designed and packaged. And despite the business doing well, persistence is still a major priority, as is visiting their export markets regularly and adapting packaging to meet export needs.

Animal Logic

•         Exporting since: 1991

•         Key markets: US, Japan, China.

If you’ve seen Happy Feet, 300, Moulin Rouge, or the Matrix, then you’ve seen Animal Logic in action. Founded in 1991 by Zareh Nalbandian and Chris Godfrey, the company produces visual effects and animation for film and TV commercials around the world.

Exports are developed by establishing relationships with directors, production companies, and advertising agencies. Working on high profile projects that showcased their capabilities introduced the business to an even wider audience, and has demonstrated the diversity of their portfolio.

To maintain relationships within the industry representatives regularly travel to the US to meet with clients and showcase work. And establishing an office in Venice Beach, California offers a constant presence in Los Angeles. Meeting in person and being able to put a face to a name has immeasurable benefits.

Bark Busters

•         Exporting since: 1999

•         Key markets: New Zealand, UK, US.

With 409 Bark Busters franchises around the world, you might be surprised to discover that head office employs only three people. “We don’t need lots of staff as we are dealing with master franchisees and they run their own business and look after the franchisees under their care,” says director and co-founder, Sylvia Wilson.

Bark Busters train dogs and people to “help humans and dogs live in harmony”, and is currently established in New Zealand, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and Israel, with France, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland due to start this year.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. When Bark Busters first tackled the US, master franchisees were on the brink of signing 10 franchisees when September 11 hit, and all franchisees pulled out. Using franchise consultants, the team began again and now has some 250 franchisees.

The Fire Company

•         Exporting since: 2005

•         Key markets: Europe, US.

As co-founder, Stephane Thomas, says, an Australian company selling fireplaces to Europe—albeit the ethanol-fuelled and flueless variety—is like selling ice to Eskimos. Demand is so great for the product that some overseas distributors are airfreighting container loads of stock into their territories because they can’t wait for sea freight timelines. These days exports account for about 85 percent of overall business, and with the global focus on using green, renewable energy sources, this Aussie exporter looks set to only get hotter.

Ninety-eight percent of the manufacturing takes place in Australia, and all marketing collateral is handled here and made available to distributors over the internet, which means distributors only need to concentrate on selling the products and servicing clients.

John Jewell Design

•         Exporting since: 2003

•         Key markets: UK, Europe.

A team of four, led by John Jewell, runs this graphic design company that specialises in wine branding and wine label designs. Making the most of time differences with the northern hemisphere, John Jewell Designs’ sustainable competitive advantage is its short turnaround time.

The company is represented at all the important wine events across chosen markets, developing promotional materials targeted at global wine companies, and providing displays, brochures and guides to key industry players. The interactive website helps promote its services to international clients.

The team constantly travels to participate in events and to meet new and existing clients, with Jewell himself spending up to three months every year overseas on promotional, market research, and sales activities. (Jewell flew to London for a 20-minute meeting to seal the deal with the first London client).

Laservision

•         Exporting since: 1990

•         Key markets: Asia Pacific.

In the permanent attractions, architectural lighting and special events business for close to 30 years, Laservision’s first international project involved projecting laser images on the sides of buildings to entertain the thousands of people stuck in Thailand’s world famous traffic jams. Today, Laservision’s proprietary technology is exported to some 20 countries, and export accounts for about 90 percent of overall business. As well as receiving numerous business and export awards, founder Paul McCloskey was recently named as an Export Hero by the Australian Institute of Export.

Laservision represents one of only a handful of companies in the world that has the ability to build a permanent multimedia attraction from start to finish, and has a large portfolio of products conceived, designed, manufactured, and marketed from Laservision’s government accredited R&D facilities in Sydney.

Unistraw International

Exporting since: 2006

Key markets: South Africa, New Zealand, Europe.

Unistraw has come a long way from the prototype for an innovative and award-winning straw that was made with a pair of women’s stockings. Now, thanks to the Unistraw Delivery System of its Sippah and Mai’a Iced Coffee straws, flavour is delivered through special beads as you sip the straw. And there is potential to deliver vitamins and pharmaceuticals the same way. Since its inception in 2005, Unistraw has produced 400 million Sippah straws.

Interest in the brand grew from trade show attendance in Germany in 2005, but it wasn’t until early 2006 that the first sale was made into South Africa—into McDonalds.

They now distribute to more than 100 countries, which is unheard of for such a young Australian company in this industry, which is why Unistraw was awarded the Emerging Exporter award at the recent Australian Export Awards.