By Ciara Quattlebaum, International Program Associate, Food Export – Northeast

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the entire Branded Program year (January – December) and now it is time to reflect on what success the year and program brought you.

Below we give you an overview of the what, why, when, where, and how of a Branded Program evaluation.  

WHAT:

Branded Program evaluations are an online form filled out by each program participant that provides details and insight into what the year has been like for a company, including the role of the Branded Program. Evaluation completion is a requirement to secure your program funding. It is a clause in each participant’s contract that is agreed upon before participation can begin.

WHY:

In the Branded Program of Food Export – Midwest and Food Export – Northeast, we review and analyze the year and our program efforts by collecting evaluations from participants in the program detailing their experiences with the Branded Program. Evaluations are a requirement by the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) who provide our funding that makes the Branded Program possible.

WHEN:

Evaluations are to be completed at the end of each program year and should be submitted as soon as the required information is available. The final deadline for all evaluations is February 28^th, however we suggest completing them in advance of that final date.

WHERE:

You can easily submit your Branded Program evaluation directly from your Branded Program portal on our website where you take care of all things Branded related, like submitting claims for reimbursement.

HOW:

Watch this short video that will explain how to submit your Branded Program Evaluation

TIPS TO REMEMBER:

Contributions

• Make sure to enter the amount of time your company spent on executing exporting activities, by all employees. Simply add together how many hours all employees have put into those exporting activities throughout the program year.

Export Sales

• For U.S. markets this field can be tricky. Tip: Think what good came from our meetings with international buyers? Were there any sales as a result of those meetings? Were those meetings set up thanks to participation in the Branded Program?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Branded Program Evaluation Instructions 

As always, if you have any questions on how to complete your evaluation, you can contact your Branded team contacts. We’re here to help!

Happy Evaluating!