Hong Kong
September 3 – 5
Food Export – Northeast Seafood Coordinator Colleen Coyne attended Seafood Expo Asia in Hong Kong and represented the U.S. in their opening ceremonies. FAS Administrator Ken Isley was also in attendance at the show and participated in a cooking demonstration using U.S. products.
A group of Northeast seafood producers toured a local wet market, a retail market, and ATO/Hong Kong conducted a market briefing to educate producers about the current market status.
Focused Trade Mission to Toronto for Specialty and Natural Products
Toronto, Canada
September 5 – 6
Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast conducted a Focused Trade Mission to Toronto for Specialty and Natural Products from September 5th to 6th. 13 Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast companies participated in the mission as well as 8 SUSTA companies.
The U.S. Suppliers went on a Retail Tour consisting of 8 different Canadian stores to get a sense of the market and what types of products are popular in their individual market segments. Maria Arbulu a Senior Marketing Specialist and Evan Mangino an Agricultural Attaché from the USDA FAS Canada office were present to give a Market Briefing to the U.S. suppliers about the current state of the Canadian market. Food Export’s In-Market Representative for Canada, Kathy Boyce, was also in attendance at the event to lend her expertise. There was a lunchtime presentation given regarding Canadian labeling.
The mission was a great opportunity to strengthen existing and make new relationships with our neighbors to the North who were the #1 Agricultural Export Market for U.S. products in 2017 totaling $20.5 Billion, according to FAS.
GBI Seafood Trade Mission to Vietnam
Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam
September 5 – 12
Food Export-Northeast participated in a Global Broad-Based Initiative (GBI) Seafood Trade Mission to Vietnam with 5 other MAP cooperators including Food Export-Midwest, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), and the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA).
The 6 organizations and a total of 13 U.S. suppliers traveled to Ho Chi Min City, the largest city in Vietnam by population, as part of the mission which included a market briefing by local FAS staff, a retail tour of local stores and importers, as well as one-on-one meetings between U.S. suppliers and Vietnamese buyers.
In addition to the one-on-one meetings, the local buyers had the opportunity to learn about a variety of U.S. seafood products through a USA Seafood Showcase including scallops, butterfish, carp, and other popular exports. The mission was a great success and Food Export-Northeast always enjoys the chance to work with other cooperators towards the common goal of promoting international trade.
MW/NE Board Meetings and NASDA Annual Meeting
Hartford, Connecticut
September 9 – 12
Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast Executive Director Tim Hamilton and respective Deputy Directors Michelle Rogowski and Joshua Dillard attended the NASDA Annual Meeting held in Hartford Connecticut from September 9th to 12th. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was in attendance for the meeting and gave a presentation about the current state of US Agriculture.
Food Export – Midwest and Northeast Board Meetings took place on Sunday, September 9th. As always we had very productive meetings with both Boards.
Focused Trade Mission to Australia and New Zealand
Australia, New Zealand
September 10 – 15
Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to Australia and New Zealand took place from September 10th to 16th. It was an exciting week as it was the first time Food Export coordinated an activity in either of those markets!
There were 15 participating U.S. suppliers who all traveled with the goal of learning more about the opportunities in the markets and to get connected with buyers. The week began in Australia with a market briefing done by the FAS Post and a presentation done by a freight forwarder, after which the group went on a retail tour. It was very exciting to see some products from our own suppliers in the stores! Products from McClure’s Pickles and Coney Island Classics were seen at almost every store visited.
As usual a main focus of the mission was one-on-one meetings between U.S. Suppliers and local buyers, which were very successful. As part of the mission the group participated in Fine Foods Australia which is the biggest trade show for the food industry in the country of Australia.
Next the mission travelled to Auckland, New Zealand where there were another round of FAS Post briefings, retail tours, and buyer meetings. It was interesting to see the difference between New Zealand and Australian markets. New Zealand is a much smaller market than Australia, with only 4.5 million people in total. But what it lacks in people it makes up for in sheep! 40 million sheep that is.
Allie Fox VanDriel from the Michigan Department of Agriculture was the Activity Coordinator for the mission. It was a great first time trip to both markets, Food Export can’t wait to explore further opportunities and activities in those markets.
Australia
New Zealand
Natural Products Expo East Buyers Mission
Baltimore, Maryland
September 11 – 15
Food Export – Northeast hosted a Natural Products Buyers Mission in conjunction with the Organic Trade Association (OTA) during the Natural Products Expo East trade show in Baltimore.
U.S. suppliers met with buyers from Brazil, Canada, Israel, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and the UK. As always it was a great show to attend and had a lot of interesting products and trends in the organic and natural sectors. Food Export-Northeast Liaison Deborah Ingravallo, International Program Associate Tess England, Communications Associate Sarah Larson and Food Export-Midwest Liaison Enrique Rubio were all in attendance for the mission and the show.
Did you hear? Natural Products Expo East is moving to Philadelphia in 2020, the hometown of Food Export-Northeast!
Food Export: Tools of the Trade Seminar
Appleton, Wisconsin
September 19
On September 19th the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection in collaboration with Food Export-Midwest hosted a seminar in Appleton Wisconsin for food and ag companies to learn the “tools of the trade” in exporting. There were 16 attendees for the seminar including 7 cheese companies, 2 alcohol companies, and 1 feed company. The event had 3 speakers including:
Dennis Lynch, Food Export Helpline Advisor
Paul Eversman, VP of Foreign Exchange & Trade Services, Associated Bank
Randy Kupfer, Export Vice-President, Certified Export Specialist, M.E. Dey & Co., Inc.
Lisa Stout & Ashwini Rao from the Wisconsin Department of Ag and Consumer Protection were also in attendance. It was a great event to connect with suppliers and learn what their focus is on heading into 2019.
Berlin Food Week
Berlin, Germany
September 20 – 21
Food Export-Northeast sponsored a Lobster Roll Rumble as part of the 2018 Berlin Food Week in Berlin, Germany from September 20 – 21. The event featured 3 variations of Lobster Rolls “The Classic”, “Italian-Style”, and “Posh” that attendees could purchase for a taste of U.S. Northeast seafood. Local FAS post members attended the event and enjoyed rolls! After producing around 750 lobster rolls the restaurant completely SOLD OUT. The Lobster Roll Rumble was later featured in a popular Berlin Newspaper as a highlight from the Food Week.
Canada Concepts
Toronto, Canada
September 25th
On September 25th Food Export – Northeast International Marketing Program Manager Suzanne Milshaw attended “Canada Concepts” in Toronto to learn about the current market conditions and discuss trade and tariff issues. She participated in brainstorming activities to talk about strengths, challenges, and opportunities for exporting US agricultural products to Canada.
Pennsylvania State Visit
September 25th
On September 25th Food Export-Northeast Liaison Deborah Ingravallo, Tom Mainzer from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Food Export Intern Laszlo Hangyas visited several of our current and prospective suppliers in Pennsylvania to discuss the programs and services that Food Export-Northeast offers and help them plan for their 2019 export opportunities.
Below a picture of them at the processing plant of US Durum, a long time participant in Food Export – Northeast activities.
Coming up in October
Americas Food And Beverage Show – October 1-2
World Dairy Expo – October 2 – 6
National Association of Convenience Stores Show – October 7
Food Export Fall Member State Marketing Meeting – October 16-18
Philadelphia Farm & Food Fest – October 28th
Don’t forget to register for our upcoming Webinars!
How to Use Data to Support Your Export Strategy – October 10th
Tariff & Trade Dispute Impact on U.S. Food Exports – October 24th