Internationalisation of German agribusiness firms after the EU enlargement: strategies, challenges and success

In recent years, the internationalisation of firm activities has been a significant trend in the agribusiness sector. To a great degree, this development has been fuelled by trade liberalisations and the EU enlargement, but also by the strong economic growth in many transforming and developing economies. Against this background, this paper identifies the strategies and instruments that agribusiness companies currently use when internationalising their business. The paper presents the empirical results of a survey that was undertaken between April and August 2010 with the participation of 113 German agribusiness firms. The majority of respondents expect that the globalisation of agricultural markets will increase remarkably in the future. For developing international business activities, comparatively simple strategies, such as direct and indirect exports, are most widely used. Agribusiness firms face various challenges in international markets, including problems with quality control, corruption, tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, as well as low availability of qualified workers and managers and a lack of legal security. Despite these difficulties and challenges, three-fourths of those interviewed indicated that they had either reached or exceeded the goals set for their international expansion.