Through a cooperative agreement with USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture offers unparalleled resources for growing small to medium sized food and beverage companies.
Getting product on shelves across the world can be an intimidating task for small to medium sized food and beverage companies, but NASDA has proven it doesn’t have to be. Each year, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) to empower small business owners with the tools and relationships needed to export their U.S. grown and made products around the world.
Since 1982, the NASDA and USDA FAS cooperative agreement has played an integral role in furthering the success of U.S. businesses in the international marketplace. Through the USDA FAS Market Access Program, NASDA hosts annual domestic trade shows with a large international audience—the American Food Fair and the USA Pavilion at the Americas Food & Beverage Show—which provide budding food and beverage businesses with unparalleled access to international buyers.
Just in the last three years, NASDA’s trade promotion activities have led to over $65 million in projected export sales, 125 companies acquiring new export markets for their business, and nearly 150 export coaching sessions for exhibitors looking to maximize their international business growth.
However, not everyone knows about these resources. We’re asking for your help to spread the word with local farmers, food manufacturers and beverage makers about the opportunity to exhibit with NASDA through your state department of agriculture. An easy way to start is by sharing this blog post via social media and internal channels, letting them know that support is available to expand export.
Further, NASDA helps exhibitors feel supported before, during and after trade shows by providing additional resources such as educational opportunities and partial reimbursement for exhibition costs.
The American Food Fair
The American Food Fair has been around for over 20 years and takes place at the largest foodservice and hospitality marketplace in the Western Hemisphere—the National Restaurant Association Show. NASDA launched the American Food Fair in conjunction with the show to give U.S. food and beverage exporters an excellent opportunity to join the 2,100 exhibiting companies and 62,550 registrants of the event.
The USA Pavilion at the Americas Food & Beverage Show
What better place to market your products to Latin America and the Caribbean than Miami? NASDA has been organizing the USA Pavilion at the Americas Food & Beverage Show for 16 years in partnership with the Miami World Trade Center. This event brings buyers, suppliers and industry experts together in one high-energy environment. The less inhibiting regulations of Caribbean and Latin American markets make it the perfect opportunity for small and medium companies to break into the international marketplace.
To ensure our exhibitors’ investment of time leads to sales at the show, NASDA arranges private meetings with high-quality international buyers on their behalf. The 2019 show encompassed over 660 pre-scheduled appointments, resulting in participating exhibitors projecting an additional $16 million in future export sales within 12 months.
The next American Food Fair at the National Restaurant Association Show will take place May 21 – 24, 2022, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, and the next USA Pavilion at the Americas Food & Beverage Show will take place Sept. 12 – 13, 2022, at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Combining NASDA members’ duty to promote products grown, harvested and processed in the U.S. and USDA’s responsibility to develop new foreign export markets, we are supporting new exporters in growing their businesses year after year. Share our story to help make a difference for more beginning food entrepreneurs.
