A reverse trade mission for potato distributors and importers coming to the PNW
Farm and Ranch Report September 8, 2010 Last October a reverse trade mission of foreign chefs held in Washington state resulted in 22 new menu launches using frozen U.S. potato products when those chefs returned home. Susan Weller, who manages Frozen Product international marketing for the U.S. Potato Board, says another reverse trade mission is planned for Washington this October, the week of the 3rd, but with a different focus. Weller: “We are going to be bringing in importers and distributors this time. They will be learning about potatoes from the ground up so we take them on a potato harvest. They tour processing facilities. They get training on how to handle potatoes as well as they are going to get cold-chain training to make sure that our U.S. potatoes maintain their high quality in the distribution system.” Weller says past experience shows that importers and distributors get excited about products they didn’t even know they could sell. Weller: “And in turn they actually start to sell new products that way. So we don‘t necessarily get menu launches but what we get are new product launches because the importers and distributors might carry more varieties or more lines of certain products.” The importers and distributors are coming from China, southeast Asia, Mexico and Central America and will spend a week in Washington state. That’s the U.S. Potato Update. Brought to you by the United States Potato Board, maximizing return on grower investment. I’m Bob Hoff for Northwest Aginfo Net.
