The Polski sklep is becoming a common sight on the British high street. But with visible reminders like this of migration to the UK, it is easy to forget that some 300,000 British residents leave these shores each year to live permanently in other countries.  Like Polish immigrants in the UK these expat communities miss their own home comforts with English pubs, greasy spoons and British shops popping up in expat havens such as Spain's Costas. But increasingly small British-based companies producing and distributing food are also serving this growing demographic.  Bristol-based British Corner Shop was set up specifically to cater to expats. Managing director Mark Callaghan, who took over the firm in 2004, has an insight into this market having been an expat himself.  He said: "I once lived in America for work and really missed things like Tetley Tea, Kellogg's cereals and Heinz Baked Beans. So as soon as I saw this business I knew there were potentially millions of other British people abroad who would feel the same, and that there was a gap in the market for a service like this."  British Corner Shop is an online shop that sells and delivers the products you would find in a supermarket or corner shop in the UK to people living overseas. Since he took over the business in 2004, it has grown to produce an annual turnover of approximately £4m. The 5.5 million-strong British diaspora suggests a massive potential export market for British companies.  Kirkcaldy-based Martin Burns cottoned on to the fact that Scots living south of the border were missing their scotch pies. "If you don't like scotch pies, you're not a true Scot," he insists. But he also realised that there was a suspicion of processed meat products following the horsemeat scandal and that people increasingly preferred to source their own filling.  His solution was to design a DIY Scotch Pie kit providing ready-made pie shells. "By giving them the shells and the recipe, I give them the means to create their own scotch pies," he explains.  Martin initially aimed products at Scots living in other parts of the UK, but he began receiving enquiries from overseas. Soon he was exporting to France, Germany and Spain and eventually the US and Canada. "California is a big market," he says. "There must be a lot of Scots in California."  He adds that 95% of his sales are directly to the end user, although some go to businesses, including a pub that sells them during Scottish Premier League matches. "It was always in the back of my mind, targeting the expat market," Martin says.  Another business looking to export to expats is Moonshine Drinks, an east Midlands-based company that manufactures kits that allow people to replicate English pub beer by simply adding water. Moonshine Drinks is just starting out, but its marketing director Roger Wilson says it hopes to sell its product through a high street retailer and is also looking for distributors equipped to handle its overseas orders.  He said: "Moonshine is an ideal product to export because it creates something that cannot be purchased overseas and if the expat markets can be found and supplied, it can be easy. I am sure it would be more difficult if there were local options that the exporter was competing against, but this is not the case with Moonshine."  He said has been pleased with the response so far to the product, which he recently exhibited at a UK Trade and Investment show attended by British embassy representatives based in 30 different countries. "Moonshine was presented to the embassy staff as a possible export product and without exception the response was staggeringly positive," he says.  But while the demand for these products is clearly out there, the logistics of catering to the expat market is more challenging than exporting to mainstream markets. Around three-quarters of all Britons living abroad live in the top 10 destination countries – Australia, Spain, the US, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany and Cyprus. But some 112 countries are estimated to have a British population of more than 1,000, figures from the IPPR suggest.  "Expats are not an easy target audience, as they live in small pockets all across the world," added British Corner Shop owner Mark Callaghan. "So finding the best ways to reach these people can be quite challenging."  "We are also quite specifically targeting British expats. This makes life even harder as it means we have to ensure that every piece of advertising we do is going to reach these people and not just English speakers or expats in general."  Like any exporter, these companies have needed the support of organisations like UK Trade and Investment and the Enterprise Europe Network. Mark says that advice on expat websites, publications, clubs and social media has also been useful.  These businesses approach marketing to expats in different ways. British Corner Shop runs an affiliate programme where expat-related sites can advertise the retailer to their visitors and earn a commission for any sales made. "This is a great way to improve your brand awareness and is a programme we will be continuing to develop in the future," added Mark.  Red Hot Cuisine, a Nottingham based firm that sends spice kits all over the world to curry-starved Brits, has an alternative approach. The company has developed a successful strategy of finding foodies in their key markets to act as advocates for the brand. And as managing director Jas Rayatt explains, this strategy has helped them reach beyond the British expat market in countries such as Canada, where they have gained a growing following among Francophone Canadians.  DIY Scotch Pie owner Martin Burns has managed to keep his marketing costs to a minimum by relying on his website and social media for marketing, which he says have been helpful for identifying potential new leads and new markets. "My targeting consists of Facebook likes," he explains. "I am now trying to encourage people to send pictures in. I feel so proud when I see the Scotch pies that they have created."  He has found the scattered Scottish diaspora a challenging market to target. While the demand for his product is buoyant in the US, high export costs make it a more expensive market to serve compared with European ones. But he advises companies looking into exporting not to be put off by red tape, customs and the scary prospect of having to refund overseas customers who don't receive their product.  "It's a minefield," he admits. "But if you have done it once you can do it again."  Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
From Tetley Tea to scotch pies, meet the UK-based businesses supplying Brits abroad with a few home comforts