A recent change in German legislation has prompted the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) to expand their industry focus. In the U.S., the chambers have long been an important partner for companies in the automotive, engineering, medical technology, and renewable energy industries,
but now companies in the food sector can take advantage of this resource as well. And they do!
After the German Agricultural Industries’ Central Marketing Association (CMA) was dissolved last year following a decision by the German Constitutional Court, the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) were designated to assist the country’s food industry in bringing its products and services to foreign markets. The CMA’s marketing efforts had formerly been financed through mandatory
contributions from German food producers - a practice that the court deemed unconstitutional in
February 2009. After this verdict, the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) designed a strategy that seeks to maintain the expertise of former CMA experts in foreign markets and combines it with the resources of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) as the classic institution for German export promotion. The ministry and the chambers’ parent organization, DIHK, identified seven key markets worldwide, among them North America, to be the focus of a joint effort to forge partnerships between German food producers and local distributors and retailers. German agricultural exports to the United States alone exceed 1 billion Euros every year, making the United States Germany’s biggest export market outside of the European Union.