In July 2022, Midwest and Northeast companies had an opportunity to meet with 17 international buyers from 15 countries through participation in Food Export’s annual Midwest Buyers Mission. Buyers from Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam traveled to Grand Rapids (MI), Columbus (OH), and Chicago (IL) to meet with about 55 U.S. suppliers representing a broad range of value-added products. In preparation for the meetings, participants reviewed buyer profiles, prioritized buyers of interest, and took advantage of Food Export’s pre-event education services. The international buyers also prepared by reviewing product information and U.S. participant websites before the mission.
The meetings aimed to establish business relationships, resulting in sales and distributorships. One such success was a business relationship established between Chicago-based City Foods dba Bea’s Best and the buyer from Saudi Arabia. City Foods, founded in 1939 by Eugene Kohn and currently led by his son Kenneth, totals more than $34 million in yearly sales and continues to grow; its union employees now produce approximately 500,000 pounds a week of fresh, top-quality products sold at retailers and wholesalers all over the country as well as in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Central, and South America and the Middle East. The company sells a wide range of meat products under Bea’s Best brand, including raw, cooked, fresh, and salted, and works with domestic and international customers to develop their private label lines.
City Foods has regularly participated in Food Export’s Buyers Missions and other activities since 2009. According to Scott Weiss, Sales Director, the buyer from Saudi Arabia was an ideal candidate to help the company expand its sales in the Middle East region. The Saudi company is a medium-sized importer and distributor, with 70% of its imports directed to the food service and manufacturing sectors and 30% to the retail industry. The company has made one container-load shipment of Halal Breakfast Beef with commitments for two more containers. According to Scott, “Success was the result of our ability to work closely with our customers to define their specific requirements and then to execute on those requirements, as well as work through their private label development. We anticipate ongoing business with this buyer. As for the future, Bea’s Best will continue to use Food Export programs to identify new customers in key international markets.”
Above: Photo of Scott Weiss, Sales Director, City Foods dba Bea’s Best at Food Export’s Midwest Buyers Mission in Chicago.
Food Export uses funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) to help America’s small businesses increase their exports of food and agricultural products. As these exports increase, these small businesses are creating jobs and improving the strength and stability of our agricultural economy. Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast are non-profit organizations that work in collaboration with their member state departments of agriculture and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. They offer a wide range of programs and services that help boost America’s agricultural exports.
