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its growers participate in trade shows like the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit, the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure show and the Mid-At- lantic Nursery Trade Show.
Partnerships with other government entities are ways state departments of agri- culture further efforts to find markets for fresh produce. For example, the Idaho agency is one of 13 state members of the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association, based in Vancouver, WA, which offers many tools to facilitate export activities. Similarly, Food Export-Northeast, based in Philadelphia, combines 10 Northeast state agricultural promotion agencies to market the region’s products internationally.
Beyond this, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Virginia and California are members of the Washington, DC-based U.S. Apple Export Council, a trade association of five apple exporting states that administers export promotion grants from the USDA.
“The Apple Export Council assists in
promotional activities, such as sampling, signage, point-of-sale and newer methods such as cooking videos for social media,” says Tom Mainzer, agricultural trade specialist for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the state’s representative to the Apple
Export Council.
Trade missions, both in-bound, where
foreign buyers tour U.S. farms, and outbound, where U.S. growers and exporters visit importers, distributors and retail operations in other countries, are central to how state departments of agriculture foster lucrative links. This is even more so when the state’s governor goes on such a mission. For example, in 2015, Idaho’s then-governor C.L. ‘Butch’ Otter led a trade delegation to meet with Mexican buyers in Mexico City. The delega- tion included 18 Idaho companies, including those representing potatoes and onions.
“Having the governor as part of a trade mission attracts and provides access to key decision makers. For example, for the meeting in Mexico, we had executives from retailers Soriana and Walmart. Walmart came with their CEO and five key vice presidents including the one for fresh produce. That proved an incredible way to make connections ... fast,” says Johnson, of the Idaho Depart- ment of Agriculture. pb
in Waddinxveen, the Netherlands. “When we started introducing the product it was essential to share both culinary as well as the health benefits. Through the support of the NCSPC and together with mk2, our retail partners were able to create more consumer awareness for this amazing product by organizing the International Sweet Potato Week, tastings, events sharing information and recipes.
“The promotions and tastings have been effective in numerous European countries including Finland (supermarket Kesko), Sweden (ICA) and Germany (Rewe). That said, as the interest for sweet potatoes increased, so did the competition particularly from China, Israel, Spain and Egypt. We are therefore now in a crucial phase where we are reiterating the origin and the premium quality of the North Carolina ‘Covington’ product as a superior sweet potato compared to the rest.”
CASE THREE: FORIDA GRAPEFRUIT IS A BIG HIT IN SOUTH KOREA
Florida is the largest producer of grapefruit in the United States. A reduc- tion in production and domestic demand
has made the Sunshine State the largest American exporter for this citrus, accounting for 72 percent of the nation’s grapefruit exports in 2014.2 In 2005, the Florida Department of Agriculture, as part of its Fresh From Florida agricultur- al-branding program, identified South Korea as a possible market for the state’s grapefruit. Factors influencing this were Korean consumers’ view of grapefruit as a premium alternative to oranges and virtu- ally no in-country production.
“After compiling and performing market research, we identified South Korea’s leading distributor to establish a partnership for Florida grapefruit,” says Mindy Lee, the agency’s bureau chief of media, education and communication. “As with most international marketing efforts, the first two years of running promotions showed no gains in consumer demand. However, in the third year, our efforts started to gain traction. By the end of Year 6, our promotions started to influence retailer purchases and consumer accep- tance. Our promotions take the form of sampling events, mobile apps, Instagram posts, print media, TV infomercials and
consumer trade shows.”
From 2006 to 2014, exports of Florida
grapefruit to South Korea increased 550%, from $740,000 in 2006 to over $4.8 million in 2014, according to the 2015 International Report done by the Florida Department. In the 2014-2015 season, the U.S., primarily from Florida, repre- sented 54% of market share of grapefruit imported into South Korea.3
“In recent years, the effects of citrus HLB disease has caused exportable supply to dwindle. However, we continue to promote Fresh From Florida Fresh grape- fruit to maintain demand for that day when a cure is found for HLB and export- able volumes rise,” says Lee. pb
2 Ten Years in Europe, The North Carolina Sweet Potato Program, Program Overview, 2008- 2018, by the North Carolina Department of Agri- culture and Consumer Services and the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission
3 The 2015 International Report, published by the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
4 Based on the report, An Overview of the Grapefruit Market in South Korea, published in 2017 by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Services, in Gainesville, FL.
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