Formation 1969 Executive Director Tim Hamilton | Location Chicago, Illinois | |
Website | ||
Food Export Association of the Midwest USA (Food Export-Midwest) is a private, non-profit association that offers services to help U.S. companies promote their Midwestern food and agricultural products in foreign markets. To carry out this mission, Food Export-Midwest works in conjunction with its 12-member state agricultural promotion agencies, interns, In-Market Representatives, the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service and its overseas offices, and other member based organizations. Food Export-Midwest offers a variety of programs and services to help exporters of Midwestern food and agricultural products begin or expand their international sales. Food Export-Midwest's export strategy includes three primary components: Exporter Education, Market Entry and Market Promotion. The objective of these programs is to provide U.S. exporters resources to pursue the export market for their food and agricultural products.
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Food Export-Midwest is one of four State Regional Trade Groups (SRTGs) that assist companies with export promotion. Three other regional groups, Food Export USA-Northeast, Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), and Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA) provide similar services for companies based or sourcing product from outside of the Food Export-Midwest 12-state region. The twelve member states are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
Market Access Program
Food Export-Midwest is one of several organizations that administer its programs each year through Market Access Program funding. In the 2008 Farm Bill, the United States Congress provided $200 million to fund Market Access Programs through 2012, with Food Export-Midwest receiving one of the largest portions of that, including $10.7 million distributed in 2010. The organization also raised concerns about the failure of Congress to pass a new five year farm bill funding the program in 2013.
Strategic alliance
In April 2000, Food Export-Midwest entered into a strategic alliance with Food Export USA-Northeast (Food Export-Northeast). Both organizations have since collaborated on activities, markets, programs and services to greatly expand the available resources for U.S. companies in their regions.
Programs and services
Food Export-Midwest programs and services are designed to educate U.S. suppliers about exporting, find new customers and increase their volume of export sales.
Educational programs provide information and education in a variety of formats such as a helpline, printed materials, seminars, webinars and online resources.
Services that help U.S. suppliers find the right markets and reach the right buyers and importers.
Financial and promotional support to help create international awareness of products made in the U.S.
In furtherance of these goals, Food Export-Midwest co-sponsored the World Dairy Expo held from September 30 to October 4, 2014, in Madison, Wisconsin, and will provide on-site support at the VitaFoods Europe nutraceutical products trade show in Geneva, Switzerland and the SIAL China food and beverage trade show in Shanghai, China, both in May 2015.