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Leveraging Those Dreams: MIATCO Works for Exporters in the Midwest
What do
mid-westerners who work in agribusiness
dream about? In many cases, even in slumber, they’re adding
up the profitability of the days’ work, and wondering how it
could be improved.
How does a novice break into foreign markets and succeed?
The Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO) is a private, non-profit association that offers the perfect way to squelch those new-to-market anxieties–a host of services designed to help food and agricultural companies in their region promote products in foreign markets.
For almost 30 years, MIATCO has been encouraging high-value
food and agricultural companies to consider exporting and
offering quality export assistance to help get them started. 
Whether it’s wild rice to the United Kingdom, food ingredients to China, or snack foods to Brazil, MIATCO’s efforts are geared to increasing midwestern small businesses’ bottom lines. Marketing and financial assistance programs are customized to benefit small companies, providing resources and expertise to help them succeed.
Efforts span the globe but they begin in MIATCO’s own midwestern backyard. Every year, the organization sponsors international buyers’ visits to the U.S. heartland, where they meet with interested suppliers.
In the coming year, MIATCO plans to host delegations of overseas buyers from Japan, China, Mexico, and Brazil.
Meanwhile, Across the Globe . . .
In conjunction with the three
other State Regional Trade Groups and the overseas offices of the
Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), MIATCO sponsors international
promotions for companies looking to access new markets.
For example, in Japan, where the market for organic food products is booming, MIATCO recently co-sponsored a series of seminars and showcases designed to spotlight U.S.-grown organic products. Participants reported sales of over $1.7 million, as a direct result.
In 1998, MIATCO co-sponsored five mini-trade shows throughout Southeast Asia, where beginning exporters had the opportunity to introduce their products to interested buyers.
Distributor Development Services
MIATCO’s overseas representatives stand ready to help small companies expand their sales into new markets. MIATCO can perform market evaluations on products to determine their potential in specific overseas marketplaces. Exporting firms can also benefit from referrals and introductions to qualified importers.
It pays to have a facilitator who knows
foreign markets; ask Jason Demeny of Wisconsin Whey
International, an enthusiastic fan since he attended the past
year’s Food Ingredients Asia Show.
"The on-the-ground support that MIATCO offered at the show was very beneficial," says Demeny. "The services they provided helped us overcome the language barrier, meet new contacts we otherwise wouldn’t have met, and market our product more effectively to the attending Chinese buyers."
It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes work that can bridge the gap between pleasant dreams and profitable sales.
You can contact MIATCO at:
400 West Erie, Suite 100
Chicago, IL 60610.
Tel.: (312) 944-3030;
Fax: (312) 944-1144;
E-mail: info@miatco.org
Putting MIATCO on the MAP
Funding from the Foreign Agricultural Service’s Market Access Program (MAP) fuels one of MIATCO’s most popular and far-reaching activities, the branded program.
This cost-sharing funding program supports the promotion of brand name food and processed agricultural products in foreign markets. MIATCO allocates these funds to small food producers and processors, as well as to agricultural producer cooperatives.
Results? In 1997, these food companies documented $77 million in increased sales. Sales increases represented a 32 to 1 return on investment for every branded program dollar invested. And the average increase in sales over the previous year for small companies was 46 percent.
What does this mean in terms of day-to-day business? Plenty; just ask Paul C. Hsu, president of Hsu’s Ginseng Enterprises, Inc., of Wausau, Wisconsin. His firm’s Wisconsin-grown American ginseng products are almost a household name in China. But such was not always the case.
Without MIATCO’s branded program, the picture would have been considerably different.
"We would never have been able to break our products into the Chinese market," says Hsu, "with its trade barriers and narrow market access, and the stiff competition that we currently face from Canadian growers."
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