How to internationalize a traditional Portuguese-style food - Liability or asset of Portugueseness?

In an increasingly competitive global market, firms try to conquer a special place in customers' minds and - when possible - in their hearts and spirits in order to succeed. Hence, through a competitive strategy based on differentiation, companies tend to focus their efforts in creating the right value proposition for consumers. They also establish upstream and/or downstream partnerships based on win-win relationships for the parties that constitute their value chain. The particular characteristics of ethnic products influence these strategies and the brand crossover. How can the ethnic-national identity of a product be employed successfully - regarding its liabilities and assets - in international sales? This case study1 focuses on Nata Pura, a rather young Portuguese firm that has built its internationalization strategy based on exporting a traditional product pastel de nata using innovative solutions, which include the development of partnerships to produce and promote this as an organic pastry made with high-quality-adapted ingredients. Earlier, the traditional product was mainly sold and distributed within Portuguese Diaspora. Nata Pura company markets and distributes the re-invented product, originally a traditional Portuguese food product, and bridges cultural and administrative distances by combining the traditional with global tendencies and tastes.