Botanical Paperworks has been reaping profits for two decades as customers worldwide opt to sow seeds embedded in the Winnipeg-based company’s handmade paper products.“The pandemic proved our strategy of diversification across markets outside Canada,” says Heidi Reimer-Epp, chief executive officer of the company, which she founded with her mother in the mid-1990s and now has about 35 employees.
This group quickly rebounded by July, 2020, to about 4-per-cent below pre-pandemic levels, while the value of their exports exceeded February, 2020 levels by 6 per cent.for January of this year noted: It found exports fell almost 9 per cent from the same month in 2021, largely due to renewed restrictions for travel from the Omicron variant and continuing supply chain bottlenecks.
Then demand for its artisanal wedding stationary took off and it quickly became a small exporter after U.S. customers discovered its products online in the early days of e-commerce. It wasn’t until the mid-2000s – when it pioneered handmade paper embedded with wildflower, herb and vegetable seeds so the paper could be planted in gardens instead of recycled – that Botanical Paperworks found its niche.Ms.
Botanical Paperworks is focused on keeping up with demand as orders surge for its wedding and other special-occasion stationery, says Ms. Reimer-Epp.The World Trade Centre Winnipeg program, launched in 2017, has helped more than 90 SMEs navigate the complexities of international trade law, taxation and distribution chains. “The program goal is really focused on helping companies create an export plan,” says Camille Bardy, project manager at World Trade Centre Winnipeg.
Ms. Bardy cites one company that partnered with a distributor overseas, which went bankrupt before paying for its shipment. Only after taking the accelerator program did the local firm realize Export Development Canada, an accelerator program partner, offers insurance for this eventuality, Ms. Bardy says.In the case of Botanical Paperworks, the accelerator helped it develop an export plan for Germany, now a key market for the firm. The accelerator program was a learning experience for Ms.