As the London Produce Show prepares its second edition June 3-5, 2015, many American organizations are re-evaluating their positions in the European produce market. Some of these organizations have previously shipped to Europe but stopped, while some are already making great inroads and want to accelerate. Many of these American organizations are taking the plunge for the first time.
In this series of articles, exclusively on PerishableNews.com, we identify what is leading these companies to look closer at Europe.
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Imagine the iconic Statue of Liberty’s Lady Liberty holding a giant juicy peach. This is the backdrop image that greets London Produce Show attendees when they visit the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) booth. South Carolina is indeed the Number One peach producing state on the U.S. East Coast. Agricultural commissioner, Hugh Weathers, and assistant director of retail and foodservice marketing, Sonny Dickinson, will staff the SCDA’s booth in anticipation of setting up export programs for peaches, as well as other South Carolina-grown fresh fruits and vegetables, to markets in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
South Carolina is already a large exporter of agricultural products, such as poultry. According to Dickinson, chicken ranked second to cotton, and in 2012, chicken valued $142 million. “The London Produce Show is a discovery mission for us to move beyond the protein and find export opportunities for fresh produce, such as peaches, watermelon, leafy greens and other fruit and vegetable products,” says Dickinson. “For example, we export about $37 million in fruit, such as peaches, blueberries and strawberries, north to Canada and south to Mexico and the Caribbean. This is nearly triple our fruit exports compared to year 2000. In addition, there are new opportunities in that out of the six growers in the U.S. that have exclusive marketing agreements to grow Kalettes™ — a kale Brussels sprout cross developed by Tozer Seeds in the UK — one of these companies is based in South Carolina and that is WP Rawl.”
The SCDA’s goals for the show are two-fold: First, to acquaint buyers to be aware of South Carolina’s availability, especially in countries where there is a market for specific fruits and vegetables but these items are not grown, or not easily grown, locally. Secondly, to serve as a source of supply when a country’s own crop is not in season. To these ends, the SCDA will have copies available of its magazine, Harvest Finder Availability Guide and South Carolina: Our Amazing Agriculture 2015, available at its booth.
The magazine overviews the state’s entire agribusiness segment, touching on topics such as top crops and food safety. The SCDA, on behalf of the South Carolina Watermelon Board and the South Carolina Watermelon Association, will also have print material available titled, Watermelon Fuels Athletes. This handout is based on clinical research showing the nutrients in this fruit are superior to commercial sports drinks for rehydration in athletes.
“We have a couple of U.S.-based retail subsidiaries that are headquartered in Europe, such as Food Lion, owned by the Delhaize Group in Belgian, and Trader Joe’s, owned by Aldi in Germany. We take pride in the food safety and good agricultural and handling practices our growers have, both certified at the state and federal level, that enables them to sell into these retailers. It shows our farming operations in the state are on par with global retail food safety requirements. Globalization of purchasing and food safety are some of the talking points we’ll share with attendees at the London Produce Show,” says Dickinson.
The Port of Charleston, in Charleston, SC, will soon be one of the largest ports on the U.S. East Coast. This is due to a $1.3 billion capital improvement and facilities modernization project as well as dredging of the harbor to 52-feet in order to accommodate super-sized cargo ships.
“South Carolina’s strong commitment to agriculture is reflected in its economic impact of $41 billion in 2014. The SCDA has a goal to reach $50 billion by 2020, and exports are an important avenue we are looking at closely to help us achieve this. We’re looking forward to having one-on-one interviews with buyers in London to establish ways we can build trade through promotion, signage and branding programs. In other words, we want retail, foodservice and military buyers as well as wholesalers and distributors in Europe to know if there’s something they can’t get locally, they can likely get it from South Carolina,” says Dickinson.
Source: PerishableNews.com
