New York, May 22,
2008
The
one-week Agricultural Trade Mission from the Dominican Republic to New York
concluded successfully as 10 participating exporters made plans to follow up on
trade leads gained during their visit from April 28 to May 2, 2008.
The list
of Dominican products comprised avocado, Persian limes, cherry tomatoes,
cucumbers, papaya, peppers, tropical melons, and mangos. Processed items
represented were frozen plantains and sweet potatoes, casabe, quail eggs, honey
and traditional Dominican candy.
Export
Platform Participants and their Products
José Rosas, Agroindustria Benemérita-Avocado
Rita Barceló, Casa Calín-Frozen plantains and sweet potato
Adalberto García, Garsim-Mangos
Justo Uribe Made, Cluster de Lechosa-Papaya
Wilson Reyes, MARCASE-melons and peppers
Castro Soriano, Cluster de Limón Persa-Persian limes
Rosario Rodríguez, Criollísimos- Artensal candy and gifts
Carlos Sánchez, CASABI-Casabe
Paulina del Rosario, Codornices Dominicanos- Quail Eggs
Juan Pablo Molina, Coop Apícola Salvador Ferrer- honey
Manolo Loia, Coop Apícola Salvador Ferrer
Rafael Abel, DGDF
Santiago Rivas, CEDAF
Cesáreo Guillermo, PADF
Pamela Schreirer, Cuerpo de Paz
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Trade Mission Activities
Throughout
the week, exporters met with more than 25 importers, distributors, retailers
and other industry players from New
York, New Jersey and
surrounding locations. Companies visited included AGREXCO U.S.A, Carive Imports,
CIMA Imports, Fierman, Global Tropical,
La Cena Fine Foods, LGS Specialties,
Jimmy Margiotta & Co., Melba Food Specialties, S. Katzman Produce y
Suzanne's Specialties.
Scheduled business
meetings at Hunts Point Terminal Market, the Hunts Point Economic Development
Corporation and the National Supermarkets Association exposed exporters to
valuable trade intelligence and access to potential buyers. They learned about
doing business with wholesalers and distributors in addition food regulations,
packaging requirements and expectations.
On their first evening
in the city, the exporters joined Jorge Selman of CEI-RD, and Luís
Facundo of Ministerio de Comercio de la República Dominicana and his
associates at a meet-and-greet reception where they discussed exporting
challenges and plans.
At Hunts Point, Edward
Martello, of USDA/APHIS, met with the fresh produce exporters to
introduce the Market News Service Portal. Martello walked through the web site
and explained how to run a custom report by commodity or market to identify
pricing, packaging, country of origin and many other details.
Myra Gordon,
administrative executive director, Hunts Point Terminal Market, welcomed
the group with an orientation of the wholesale market and responded to their questions.
Gordon commented, ""In order to sell to this market, you have to have
integrity, quality product, consistent pricing and production." She also pointed out the importance of
learning about the seasonal windows of opportunity when product is not produced
domestically.
The National Supermarket Association
invited the exporters to a special evening at its headquarters in Whitestone, NY,
where they were afforded the opportunity to exhibit some of their products.
Nelson Eusebio, executive director, organized the event. Victor del Angel,
representative of IICA-RD, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on
Agriculture, the agency that selected and supported the Export Platform,
expressed his gratitude, "This has been a wonderful experience during which
time we have learned how to best position ourselves in this challenging
marketplace."
Exporters also toured
a variety of retail establishments - bodegas, supermarkets, wholesale and
gourmet markets. The visit to C-Town,
Dreiser Loop Circle, Bronx, NY,
stands out in particular. Ramon Vargas, owner of seven C-Town and Bravo
supermarkets, shared anecdotes and counsel based on his experience as a
successful retailer and distributor.
A private conference
at the Hunts Point Economic Development (HPED) with Josefine Infante,
president and executive director, concluded the week's events. She expressed
her support and also apprised them of the Dominican Trade Desk, a joint effort
of HPED, and the Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana, that was recently launched
to provide Dominican producers with the guidance needed to help them become
export ready. She emphasized the importance of establishing relationships and
long-term plans. |
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Export Platform Organizers
IICA selected and provided training to the Dominican producers who
participated in the trade mission. The exporters represented cooperatives,
clusters, federations and private companies. Many of them already have
experience selling within their country and other markets, but not to the U.S.
IICA, headquartered in
Costa Rica,
is a part of the Organization of American States (OAS). Its objectives are "to
encourage and support the efforts of its Member States to achieve agricultural
development and well-being for rural populations." It has offices in 34
countries of the Americas.
Members of the IICA
delegation responsible for the DR-Export Platform were: Victor del Angel, representative
of IICA in the Dominican Republic, Manuel Messina, agribusiness trade
development specialist, Daniel Rodríguez, agribusiness specialist, IICA-Miami,
and Oscar Hernández, consultant, IICA-RD.
Plans and Solutions
Inc., Montgomery,
Maryland, (www.plansandsolutions.com), provided market research and organized the
trade mission in New York.
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Alexandra Salas
Post Office Box No 279
Great Meadows, NJ 07838
201-280-8320
alexeditorial@aol.com
bellafoodsinc@aol.com
www.bellafoodsinc.com
http://tradeplatforms.pbwiki.com/
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Ken Weiss
Post Office
Box No. 8905
Gaithersburg, MD
20898
Phone (301)
947-8150
Fax (240)
525-5601
info@plansandsolutions.com
www.plansandsolutions.com
http://tradeplatforms.pbwiki.com/
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