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exported to 20 countries, including North America (Mexico, Canada and Iceland), Europe (the UK, Spain, Italy and Norway, for example), South America (Chile), the Middle East (United Arab Emirates) and Asia (Singapore). In 2017, the number of countries receiving North Carolina produce totaled 26 and included the Dominican Republic, Greece, Switzerland and Croatia. Closer to home, North Carolina supplies 60% of all the sweet potatoes consumed throughout the U.S., according to 2017 production statistics from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
Many states rely on out-of-state markets for a significant portion of their crop sales, even though in-state, locally grown branded agricultural programs have been developed and become popular in the past two decades. For example, Ohio has the benefit of a loca- tion that allows for an impressive geographic reach. More specifically, Ohio is within 600 miles of 60 percent of both U.S. and Canadian populations.
“One of our best examples is Ohio Proud partner NatureFresh Farms, which strate- gically built its greenhouse in Delta, OH, to be within a five-hour radius of roughly 20 million people,” says Ashley McDonald, Ohio Department of Agriculture’s program manager for Ohio Proud. “They’re benefiting from marketing fresh, Ohio-grown tomatoes year- round in state but also can provide the freshest quality product to surrounding states and even Canada because of reduced food miles.”
Texas has the advantage of its crops being ‘in season’ when much of the land in northern states is snow-covered.
“We use Specialty Crop Block Grant money from the USDA to market to retailers and restaurateurs up north with our Go Texan brand program,” says Sid Miller, commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. “This includes broccoli, cauliflower, onions, water- melon, cantaloupe, cabbage, kale and carrots, to name a few.”
The South Carolina Department of Agri- culture launched its Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship program last year. This new initiative is designed to help growers find markets and thus achieve the group’s “50 by 20” goal, or a $50 billion agri- business industry by 2020. One of the state’s products with a national reach is peaches.
“An advantage for us is such a long peach growing season, from mid-May to September, as well as flavor and a wide number of peach varieties,” says Katherine Pfeiffer, director of merchandising. “We ship peaches north to New Jersey and west as far as Colorado. In
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Florida Blueberries
Texas Red Grapefruit
general, South Carolina is located within 75% of the entire U.S. population.”
Further afield, New Jersey farmers ship produce to Canada.
“Eastern Canada is a significant export location for a variety of fresh fruits and vege- tables grown in New Jersey, including leafy greens, peppers, eggplant and blueberries, among other things,” says Douglas Fisher, secretary of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. “Our Jersey Fresh brand is synon- ymous for quality and freshness not only in-state but throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Canada.
In 2018, Virginia exported $1 million in tomatoes to Canada. The year prior, the state’s producers exported $688,000 worth of leafy greens, such as kale and cabbage, to Canada.
To the south, half of the fresh potatoes exported to Mexico from the U.S. come from Colorado, according to Tom Lipetzky, director of marketing programs and strategic initiatives for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “Advantages to us are closer shipping logis- tics than the Eastern U.S. and good demand for russets, reds and purple potatoes. The challenge is that currently we are limited to selling our potatoes into the first 16 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border, which puts us out of the highly populated Mexico City market. Therefore, our efforts are currently geared toward establishing a market presence at the border for both importers and exporters.”
The Caribbean is another key market. This
region is the No. 1 export market for Penn- sylvania’s Red Delicious apples, especially those smaller in size than preferred in the U.S. market. The New York Department of Agriculture has developed a strong market in Puerto Rico for its apples, especially through retailers such as Walmart. Michigan also ships apples to the Caribbean, Central and South America as the state is closer to these overseas markets than top U.S. apple producer, Wash- ington.
“We did a trade mission to Brazil five or six years ago regarding apples and found a lot of interest there by importers and retailers alike,” says Jamie Zmitko-Somers, interna- tional marketing manager for the Michigan Department of Agriculture. “We have not been able to get the import protocol between USDA and Brazilian authorities finalized yet, but we hope to see this happen.”
The UK is and has been a valuable market for the Empire State’s tree fruit like apples, according to Richard Ball, commissioner of the New York Department of Ag. “The vari- eties of apples we grow resonates with UK customers.”
The Fresh From Florida retail operations expanded to 25 nations in 2018, according to Mindy Lee, bureau chief of media, education and communications. This includes the UK, where activities included in-store sampling events, display contests and circular advertising.
“Waitrose customers look forward to the refreshing, vibrant and sweeter flavor of Florida Pink Grapefruit,” says a representative from Primafruit Limited, which exclusively sources imported fruit for the 300-plus unit Bracknell, Berkshire, UK-headquartered supermarket chain. “We have featured this in the Waitrose Food Magazine, highlighting its much-antici- pated arrival with a delicious recipe.”
Asia is a significant export market for states such as Florida and Idaho.
“Blueberries are a crop we’ve worked hard to expand interest and sales. We began featuring them in 2003 with sales of $18.2 million. By 2015, sales reached $82 million, representing an annual 27% increase and overall 355% increase. More recently, we tested and expanded interest for Florida blue- berries in Singapore and introduced them to the Japanese market for the first time three to four years ago,” says Lee.
One of every six rows of potatoes grown in Idaho finds a home overseas, according to Laura Johnson, marketing and development bureau chief for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. “Exports are frozen, dehy- drated, and to a lesser extent, fresh. However,