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9-13-2022
Finishing Strong and Looking South
We are nearing the end of 2022 program year which is a good opportunity to offer this advice: it’s time to finish strong. In 2021, the fourth quarter saw the highest sales totals of the Global Events program year. There is no reason this year need be different. The upcoming schedule of events has some of the key activities of the year, including proven trade shows like SIAL Paris, SIAL China South, and an inbound mission of Canadian buyers of beer, wine, and spirits. Canada is always a challenging market, but it has been showing growth in beer, wine, and spirits.
September’s schedule of events is finishing strong too; SUSTA has ongoing inbound missions from Peru and Colombia at the America’s Food and Beverage Show in Miami. These two countries are exciting and rapidly expanding markets for U.S. exports.
Peru is a stable economy and sizeable importer of U.S. food and agricultural products. Market access is supported by the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) under which more than two thirds of current U.S. agricultural exports enter Peru duty-free. Last year’s virtual trade mission netted sales and earned a perfect rating from participating SUSTA companies of five on a scale of one to five. This year the mission is live.
Colombia, which also has a free trade agreement with the U.S., was the top market under the Global Events program. The outbound trade mission in 2019 was also one the top three events that year. From 2009 to 2020, U.S. ag exports grew at an annual compound rate of 13 percent.That compares to two percent for the rest of the world. One of the hottest product categories is non-alcoholic beverage products: since 2012, U.S. exports have grown more than five-fold.
Growth in sales to South America has been trending positively, the COVID year of 2020 being the exception. Moreover, given the location of the ports and logistics in the Southern U.S., it is a natural market for SUSTA companies.
While the whole world is dealing with the unprecedented economic events of the past two years, USDA’s latest trade outlook shows positive momentum in South America. Through the first nine months of the fiscal year, U.S. ag and food exports are up nearly eight percent over the same period in fiscal year 2021 and have nearly matched the total value of all of fiscal year 2021. GDP forecasts have been revised up, as well.
Our 2023 Global Events program provides great opportunities to promote your products in the South American market. There will be another inbound buyers’ mission from Peru, an outbound trade mission to Colombia, like the successful mission in 2019, as well as a return to the Espacio Food Service Trade Show in Chile – again, a show that generated sales in 2019. Finally, at next year’s America’s Food and Beverage Show, SUSTA will be bringing in buyers from Brazil.
While there has been more than enough economic storm clouds over the past two years, the silver lining is new emerging trends and opportunities. South America is one of them. Part of finishing 2022 in a position of strength is preparing for new opportunities – doing your research, finalizing your marketing plans, renewing your MySUSTA account, and exploring these opportunities.
