How Can Food Export Help You With Sample Shipments?

1. First, if you are not a current participant in our Branded Program, apply here. We accept applications on a rolling basis, pending available funding. You must apply before you pay for any eligible expenses.
2. Ship your samples! Save your receipts and shipping documentation. If you need help with this step, see resources listed below.
3. Submit a reimbursement claim on our website here. In the claim form, you’ll provide information about the freight cost, vendor, and dates.
4. What documentation we need:
   • Invoice: We need to see the invoice to you from the vendor (ex. FedEx). This can be an invoice or receipt that shows the vendor name, shipment date, and cost. We also need to see where the shipment is going, either on the invoice or on another document from the vendor.
   • Proof of Payment: How did you pay for the freight cost? Credit card? Pull your statement showing the charge posted. Check? Pull a copy of the cancelled check. Wire transfer? Show us the confirmation.
5. Our typical claim turnaround time is 30 days from when you submit a claim to when we mail you a check. We can also reimburse you via ACH if that’s of interest.
6. Tips:

• Claims for freight for sample shipments require less documentation and are much easier to reimburse than other claim types. If you are new to the Branded Program, start with these claims to learn the process and get some funding back quickly!
• Review all your invoices from shipping vendors. Anytime you ship product samples internationally, claim that to Food Export. It doesn’t matter what country you ship it to – we can add new countries to your application if needed.
• Sometimes you’ll ship your samples to a consolidator in the U.S., who sends it onto the foreign country. We can reimburse for this domestic shipping cost. In addition to the documentation listed above, you will need to provide the shipping information for the international shipment.
• Are you shipping a pallet or more? We can reimburse for that too, but we’ll need extra confirmation that the shipment is for samples, not for purchased product.
• Remember, we do not reimburse freight costs for your purchased product

Many Branded Program participants take advantage of reimbursement for sample shipments each year, including Woeber Mustard Company in Springfield, Ohio.

According to Wally Miller, Woeber’s Director of Sales,“Even though we are a small Ohio based company, Food Export – Midwest and Market Access Program (MAP) funding give us the opportunity to grow our business all around the world.”

How we work with samples at our events

Food Export offers three major types of activities to meet foreign buyers: Food Show Plus!^TM, Buyers Missions, and Focused Trade Missions. Samples play an important role in meeting foreign buyers, whether meetings are happening in-person or virtually. Sample shipment policy might vary depending on the type of the event you are registering for.