Going Global Playbook

Demand ＞ Supply ➔ Scale

Last year, on my way back home to Halifax, I made an impulsive detour out of Dubai airport — partly because Dubai fascinates me as a city that reinvents itself every decade, and partly because I wanted to try a global phenomenon that had taken over the FnB world:

Dubai Chocolate with Pistachio.

I tried it. It was good.
But I couldn’t quite decode why it had gone globally viral.

Then it became clear:
It wasn’t the taste alone — it was the story, the timing, and the boldness of being first.

A simple combination transformed into a global sensation — pushing pistachios from a niche nut to a global trend driver.

And that’s not an exaggeration.
Here are the top 5 pistachio market highlights that show how powerful this movement has become:

📊 The Origins of Dubai Chocolate — And Why It Went Viral

The Dubai Chocolate with Pistachio phenomenon traces back to Sarah Hamouda, the chocolatier behind Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai.
Towards the end of 2023, a TikTok video by creator Maria Vehera — showcasing the glossy chocolate slab and dramatic pistachio drizzle — went massively viral, crossing 300 million views across platforms.

Why it exploded:

📱 Engineered for virality: glossy chocolate, vibrant pistachio, dramatic cross-sections
✈️ Tourist amplification: millions of visitors filmed, posted, and spread it globally
🎨 Simple but premium: familiar ingredients presented in a fresh, indulgent visual format
🚀 Easy to replicate: cafés worldwide copied it instantly, accelerating global adoption

The impact in numbers:

💸 A 30%+ surge in global pistachio prices driven by viral demand
📈 U.S. pistachio production forecast at 726,400 MT in 2025 (+44% YoY)
🌍 Global pistachio market valued at ~$4.5B, growing at ~11% CAGR through 2032
🌏 UAE, Gulf markets, India, and East Asia have become hyper-demand zones, absorbing a large share of U.S. output
🍨 Major brands — Starbucks, Häagen-Dazs, Lindt — are launching pistachio innovations across beverages, bakeries, chocolates, frozen desserts, spreads, and seasonal lines

And Here’s the Twist:

Dubai doesn’t grow pistachios.
Not a single meaningful commercial acre.

They grew the narrative — and the world followed.

And that sparked an even bigger question in my mind:

Why not Canada?

Canada has one of the world’s strongest agricultural ecosystems.
We grow almost everything — except desert crops — and produce many things that other countries cannot.

Yet many Canadian CPG brands remain locked within Canada's borders.

From my current market analysis across the Canadian FnB and CPG ecosystem:

• Most brands restrict themselves to local retail chains
• Digital presence is strong locally but rarely global
• Most brands aren’t fully leveraging “Made in Canada” as a strategic advantage
• E-commerce is under-leveraged (though understandably complex for CPG)
• Very few consider international expansion, despite clear global demand

This overly domestic focus creates a ceiling:
You simply cannot unlock global scale by selling only within Canada.

This is where the VRIO framework reveals Canada’s untapped potential.

Using the VRIO Framework to Identify Canada’s Global Advantage

The VRIO Framework was coined and developed by Jay B. Barney, a leading scholar in strategic management.

As part of my CITP | FIBP journey in International Sales & Marketing, I’ve been analyzing Canada’s CPG opportunity through the VRIO model — which evaluates four factors:

• V — Is it Valuable? - Does it meet customer demand or solve a problem?
• R — Is it Rare? - Is it something only a few competitors have?
• I — Is it difficult to Imitate? - Is it hard or costly for others to copy?
• O — Is the ecosystem Organized to capture the value? - Are the teams, systems, partners, and infrastructure in place to deliver it?

When all four are “YES,” a company achieves long-term competitive advantage.

Canadian CPG companies operate in one of the world’s strongest agricultural ecosystems — but the challenge isn’t production.

The challenge is identifying global opportunities that Canada is uniquely advantaged to dominate.

The Real Barrier: Need for Canada Global Growth

“Canada Strong” campaigns encourage buying local — and they’re valuable.
They support farmers and strengthen the domestic economy.

But Canada Strong doesn't have to mean Canada Small.

Local growth builds roots.
But global scale begins beyond the seas.

This is where Canadian brands unlock authentic transformation.

This Is Why I Believe:

"Global scale is not confined to borders — it begins beyond the seas.” — Govinda Rajan Talluri

Growth can happen at home; scale requires looking outward.
If the world could adopt matcha from Japan, gochujang from Korea, and pistachio chocolate from Dubai, Canada can do the same with ingredients like maple or wild blueberry.

We already have the trust, the quality, and the agricultural excellence.
We already have global credibility.
What we now need is the ambition to take our strengths beyond our borders.

Premium Going Global Playbook — Coming Soon

I’m currently building a comprehensive premium Going Global Playbook, featuring practical, high-impact CPG innovation ideas grounded in Canada’s unique agricultural strengths.

👤 Who It’s For:
Founders, operators, product innovators, and CPG strategists who want to tap into Canada’s rich natural resources and build brands with authentic global potential.

📘 What’s Inside:
I’ll be sharing more details and early-access information — including frameworks, examples, and category opportunities — right here on this blog in the coming days.

🔭 What’s Ahead:
Looking forward to seeing bold, globally minded Canadian innovations take shape in 2025 and beyond.

✨ What Do You Think?

How do you see Canada’s role in the next wave of global CPG innovation?
What Canadian ingredients, stories, or capabilities do you believe have the power to go global?

I’d love to hear your thoughts — especially from founders, operators, and creators who see opportunities others might be overlooking.

🤝 Let’s Collaborate

I’m a Canada-based entrepreneur and growth strategist working at the intersection of CPG innovation, global expansion, and strategic clarity — helping businesses turn local strengths into global opportunities.

This Going Global Playbook is built on a simple belief:
Canada has the resources, credibility, and trust the world already values — we just need to channel them into bold, export-ready brands.

Whether it’s food, wellness, natural ingredients, or resource-driven innovation, global scale begins with ambition, insight, and the courage to think beyond borders.

If you’re exploring international growth — expanding a product line, validating a new market, or building a globally minded brand — I’d be glad to support your journey.

🔭 What I Focus On

🌱 CPG Innovation & Product Strategy
Identifying high-impact product opportunities rooted in Canada’s natural and agricultural strengths.

🧭 Global Market Insight & Positioning
Helping brands understand demand patterns, cultural fit, pricing dynamics, and category potential across borders.

⚙️ Scalable Growth & Export Strategy
Building systems, narratives, and partnerships that allow Canadian products to travel — and thrive — internationally.

🧩 How I Help

💡 Strategic Advisory for CPG & FnB Brands
Supporting founders and teams as they navigate product-market fit, global storytelling, and channel strategy.

📈 International Expansion & Go-to-Market Planning
Guiding businesses through market selection, regulatory considerations, distributor partnerships, and long-term scale.

🌐 Cross-Border Ecosystem Navigation
Helping brands connect with the right buyers, networks, and facilitators across North America, the Middle East, Asia, and emerging markets.

Across all of this, one principle stands firm:

Global advantage isn’t about competing harder — it’s about competing where you’re naturally strong.

And Canada has strengths the world is already paying attention to.

As we build this playbook together —
I’m excited to see the next wave of bold, globally minded Canadian innovations take shape.

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🔔 Stay Connected
If this story on perspective, resilience, and transformation resonated with you, let’s keep the conversation going.

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