THE BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE

By Whitney Lett

Introducing Florida’s Food Producers to the World

WHITNEY LETT is a development representative with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Her role within the Division of Marketing and Development is to encourage international trade for Florida’s agriculture industry. She can be reached at Whitney.Lett@fdacs.gov.

The business of international trade is daunting to many food producers. It can be difficult enough to sell products in a domestic market, so exporting products may seem to be an impossible task. Thankfully, there are resources available through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to help food and beverage companies in the state grow their consumer base past the U.S. and into the global market.

The FDACS Division of Marketing and Development is home to the Trade Development team, which focuses on growing agricultural trade locally and expanding products to the worldwide marketplace. Domestic consumers are familiar with the “Fresh From Florida” logo next to products in weekly ads from their local grocery store. Most don’t realize that same logo is popping up on restaurant menus in Canada, billboards in the Dominican Republic, product displays in Denmark and Sweden, and social media in Korea.

The team’s partnerships with grocery retailers and distributors around the world offer the potential to match Florida growers and producers with unique opportunities in markets they might not have considered. Trade Development also participates in international trade events to give Florida agricultural companies a chance to exhibit internationally, as well as to make connections with new partners and new markets. Additionally, Trade Development offers

a resource website on exporting agricultural products (https://www.

fdacs.gov/AgricultureIndustry/ExportingFlorida-AgriculturalProducts).

FDACS also has a proud partnership with the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA). SUSTA is a nonprofit funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that works to assist small and midsize businesses in their international marketing efforts. SUSTA’s staff is based in New Orleans and partners with representatives from the agriculture departments in Southern states to carry out their mission.

SUSTA supports U.S. food and beverage companies based in the South in a variety of ways. Through global events, companies have the opportunity to connect with buyers at trade shows and trade missions around the world. Through inbound trade missions, buyers from an international market are brought into the U.S. to meet one on one with domestic companies. Outbound trade missions take U.S. companies to foreign markets, where they have pre-arranged one-on-one meetings with buyers and also get to see the retail market where their products would be sold.

At trade shows, SUSTA offers exhibition space at a subsidized rate within a SUSTA-branded pavilion. This past year, as a result of the cancellation of events due to COVID-19, SUSTA began offering virtual trade missions that featured videoconferenced one-on-one meetings.

Food producers can also take advantage of the 50% CostShare program, which offers 50% reimbursement on international marketing expenses. The program can be used for advertising, website translation, in-store sampling, participation in trade shows and missions, label changes for foreign markets, and more. SUSTA recognizes that marketing food and beverage products internationally can be costly, and this program can help ease the budgetary strain of taking on new foreign markets.

Through other SUSTA initiatives, companies looking to export can schedule virtual consultations with in-country consultants to discuss products and their potential in certain foreign markets. Individual states offer export seminars and webinars to companies interested in exporting, providing information on SUSTA and on topics such as financing and freight forwarding. SUSTA also offers educational webinars throughout the year on specific international markets, as well as topics of interest such as digital marketing.

So how is SUSTA effective for Florida agricultural companies interested in exporting? In 2019, 40 Florida companies, including 15 new ones, participated in SUSTA programs. There were 38 companies that made export sales, with 11 doing it for the first time. In 2019, the return on investment was $17 for every $1 Florida companies invested into SUSTA. Over the past five years, Florida companies collectively made $275 million in export sales and 80 first-time sales to new markets.

What types of events are Florida companies attending? The past year proved to be a unique and unprecedented year for the world. As a result, SUSTA and its participating companies had to change what they were doing to grow their export markets. At the beginning of the year, Florida companies were able to attend a horticulture trade show in Germany (IPM Essen), a produce trade show in Germany (Fruit Logistica), and the Gulfood trade show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the rest of the year, Florida companies participated in virtual trade missions with the following markets: Canada, Central America, China/Hong Kong, Colombia, Europe, India, Mexico, the Middle East and Taiwan.

If an agriculture company in Florida is interested in taking its products global, FDACS is ready to assist. Whether it is introducing a company to a foreign retailer or attending a trade show on the other side of the world, the department is a helping hand and a valuable tool. Let’s work together to take Florida’s exceptional food and beverage products to the world. b