European Seafood Exhibition THE Mecca for global seafood trade (Posted by Jerry Hingle, SUSTA Executive Director)

SUSTA, along with the states of Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, exhibited at last week's European Seafood Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. The event is among the world’s leading gatherings of the seafood industry, with over 1,600 exhibiting companies from over 80 countries. It is one of SUSTA’s top five “must do” trade shows and export sales at the three-day event far exceed sales at any other SUSTA activity. The five companies exhibiting at our pavilion typically sell more than $30 million as a direct result of being at the show.

Our pavilion, located within prime location of the USA pavilion, was staffed by Steve Vilnit (Maryland) and Paul Davis (Florida). Mike Hutt also attended under the sponsorship of the state of Virginia. They all did a superb job at handling enquiries and trade leads, which numbered over 25.

Unlike many generalist food trade shows, ESE is a gathering of tenured and experienced seafood traders. The show is must for any seafood seller wishing to export. Registration for booth space at next year's show are expected to open in October 2012 -- Be sure to sign up quickly as space sells out fast.

Justin Timineri, Executive Chef on loan from the Florida Ag. Department, did a great job at displaying and cooking samples of shrimp, scallops, lobster, and other product available from the companies exhibiting with us.

Export Assistance from SUSTA Starting August 1

Small businesses are constantly looking for new customers. Reaching a new market requires meeting new buyers, educating new customers, and advertising. Starting August 1, SUSTA will accept applications for the 2012 Market Access Program (MAP) Branded. The Branded program is designed to help food and agricultural companies enter export markets with 50% reimbursement for promotional costs, such as advertising, exhibiting at trade shows, and changes to packaging and labels. Download the Pre-Qualification Form from the SUSTA website today to double your international marketing budget for next year!

Eligible companies are small according to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) standards, have yearly sales of at least $100,000, and promote a brand-name product that is at least 50% U.S. agricultural origin. MAP Branded is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and administered to southern U.S. companies by SUSTA. Companies located in any of SUSTA’s member states can apply for funding: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Shanghai chefs study American cuisine at Nicholls with SUSTA

The Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University chef's training program. This year 12 visiting chefs from Shanghai, China attended.

The training featured culinary demonstrations, lectures and field trips designed to expose the visiting chefs to the rich traditions of Louisianan, Southern Soul, Cajun culture, Latin American, Native American and Appalachian cuisines.

Click here to see more!

Williamsburg Winery Using SUSTA and Winning

Williamsburg Winery in Virginia received three medals this week at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards held in London.

The London International Wine Fair is the largest wine show in the world. SUSTA assisted seven Virginia companies to exhibit in front of an audience of more than 25,000 international wine buyers, and winery representatives. There were over 12 thousand wines from 44 countries to judge. Williamsburg Winery was awarded a Silver medal for their 2008 Adagio, a Bronze medal to the 2009 Late Harvest Vidal, and a Commended Award to the 2006 Gabriel Archer Reserve.

Master Winemaker, Matthew Meyer, represented the Williamsburg Winery and thanked SUSTA and the Virginia Wine Marketing office for helping make the experience happen.

Congratulations from the entire staff at SUSTA!

SBA, Inc. Magazine and AT&T Collaborate to Promote Exporting

SBA, Inc. Magazine and AT&T have come together to make a series of videos to inspire and encourage American small businesses to actively pursue exporting. The videos start with the answer to “why export"? You can watch other subjects like finding your first customer, planning for export success, how to connect with foreign buyers and case studies among others. The videos are posted at http://www.inc.com/exporting. Once a Southern U.S. company is ready to take the next step into exporting, they should know that there are programs that the Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA) manages to help the process be more affordable and manageable. SUSTA helps organize a variety of trade shows, expos and missions at a reduced cost to participants. Also, for approved participants SUSTA reimburses up to 50% of certain international marketing and promotion expenses. Please go to http://www.susta.org/index.html to learn more.