Success Stories

Cape Seafood, LLC, based in Saco, Maine, is a seafood processing company specializing in Maine lobsters and Jonah crab. It was founded in 2012 by two brothers, Luke and Bryan Holden, in order to supply seafood to their rapidly growing restaurant group called Luke’s Lobster. Luke’s Lobster and Cape Seafood are vertically integrated to the docks allowing for complete transparency to their customers at their 26 shacks domestically and 6 abroad in Japan. Cape Seafood creates the highest quality value-added, ready to eat products from lobster and crab that they sell both retail and wholesale. Cape Seafood processes 5 million pounds of lobsters and 1 million pounds of crabs annually.

In December of 2016, DairiConcepts, located in Springfield, Missouri, in the 7th Congressional District, attended Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to Dubai for Retail and Food Service Products where they received pre-event research into the market, a market briefing by the local USDA and one on one meetings with buyers from GCC-6 (Gulf Cooperation Council consisting of: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates). As a result of this show they are projecting sales to start emerging for the GCC-6 region. During the mission DairiConcepts had created four new foreign contacts as well as they developed a new agent relationship.

In 2016, Blackwood Pet Food, LLC located in Lisbon, Ohio, in the 6th Congressional District, participated in Food Export’s Branded Program where they utilized $110,000 of the Market Access Program funding to help them create export sales of $6,000,000. Currently, they have distributors in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Nature’s Logic, a Lincoln, Nebraska based business in Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District has been in the business of providing the highest quality pet food products made entirely from whole foods since its founding in 2005. Nature’s Logic was the first pet food of its kind to offer entirely natural pet food solutions, with no chemically synthesized supplementation like many other products on the market. Our pets are family, and they deserve only the highest quality nutrition. Although Nature’s Logic is a relatively young business, being established for only 12 years, they have developed a brand with a global impact. Nature’s Logic exports their products to five countries, sources their ingredients from seven U.S. states, and has manufacturing facilities in three Midwestern states.

In March 2016, Lund Fisheries Inc., located in Cape May, New Jersey attended Food Export’s Seafood Buyers Mission at 2017 Seafood Expo North America where they had one-on-one meetings with buyers from around the world looking for different types of fish, seafood, and seafood related products and services. During the meetings the New Jersey Supplier made a sale of seafood products worth $1.75 million to five different buyers from four different countries. Every sale made represented a 20% increase as well as helping Lund’s Fisheries to make 5 new foreign contacts made. On top of the $1.75 million in sales at the show they projected to do another $4 million in sales in the foreseeable future.

Founded in 1992 as a functional ingredient manufacturing company, RIBUS, Inc. supplies natural and organic rice ingredients to food, beverage, dietary supplement and pet companies around the world. Based in Saint Louis, Missouri in the 2nd Congressional District, RIBUS produces rice-based ingredients, which provide solutions for conventional, natural and certified organic foods. By utilizing the entire grain (the hull and bran), they are helping to sustain the earth.

Founded in 1980, The Town Dock has steadily grown over the last 36 years. This amazing growth has added to Rhode Island’s fishing industry and created new jobs in that sector.

Joseph G Toenjes was born and raised in the Midwest and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Latin America from an early age. The idea of sharing the quality of U.S. wines, brews and spirits with neighboring countries inspired Joseph to found St. Amand. St. Amand New World wines, brews, and spirits were born of a passion for all that the U.S. market has to offer in terms of innovation and quality combined with a fascination for the amazing cultures and languages of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Rosina Foods Products Inc., located in Buffalo, New York, in the 26th Congressional District, has continued to work and utilize services and programs provided by Food Export Northeast since 2000. This past March the company used Food Export’s Rep Finder to explore opportunities in Costa Rica. This allowed Rosina Food Products to have meetings with a select group of targeted importers. These meetings were a great success for the company as they were able to gain a sale of $100,000 of their assorted frozen products into Costa Rica.

Rosina Foods Products Inc. from Buffalo, New York has been a Food Export USA – Northeast Branded Program participant for several years. The company has used the 50% reimbursement funding for a variety of activities including making label modifications, advertising, conducting international trade seminars, freight charges and promotional displays.

US International Foods, based in Saint Louis, Missouri, specializes in exporting high quality food and grocery products from the United States to growing markets around the world. Knowing the demand for US food products is rising internationally, they specialize in the distribution of American-made food products around the world.

Utilizing the Market Access Program funded Food Export Branded Program for three years has helped Illinois based Belmont Foods significantly expand their export sales to the Asian rim. Their strong marketing plan demonstrates their focus on the region with trade show plans and a strategy to build company and product recognition with sample and demo product promotions.

In May of 2016, LorAnn Oils, from Lansing, Michigan, attended and exhibited at the Bakery Showcase in Toronto, Canada where they connected with multiple interested buyers from the country. Gaining 15 new foreign contacts and gaining exposure for their baking and flavoring emulsions and concentrated baking flavorings was a key achievement for the supplier.

In 2016, JM Grain Inc. located in Garrison, North Dakota, participated in Food Export’s Food Show PLUS!™ at SIAL Paris. There with the help of their Market Access Program (MAP) funded Food Show PLUS!™ services they made over 100 foreign contacts and reported actual sales of $2,386,000 and are projected to have total export sales of $5,000,000.

Established in 2011 and headquartered in York, Maine, Maine Coast is a live lobster wholesaler which has successfully tapped into growing demand of live lobster on a global stage. The company has a holding capacity for 180,000 pounds of live lobster between its facilities in York and Boston, Massachusetts, and employs 50 people year-round company-wide. In 2015 the company was also a recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Exporter of the Year for Maine.

In 2016, US Greens, LLC, located in Larned, Kansas, in the 1st Congressional District, saw great success due to MAP (Market Access Program) funding. They attended trade shows and developed 10 new international customers with help from Food Export’s Branded Program funding. The export buyers they met with were from 9 different countries. They have received orders from five--Belgium, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Hong Kong. Overall to date, due to MAP, they have sold approximately $211,000 internationally. What success!

Minhas Craft Brewery of Monroe, Wisconsin participated in Food Export’s Midwest Buyers Mission in Madison, Wisconsin in August of 2016. While there, they connected with a Taiwanese buyer and made their first export sale to the buyer with additional assistance through the Food Export Helpline™.

Cooperative Elevator Co. is an agricultural cooperative situated in Michigan's "thumb" - a rich agricultural region offering fertile soils, tiled fields, adequate rainfall, and temperatures moderated by Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. Since 2005, Cooperative Elevator Co. has been using Food Export’s Branded Program to modify their packaging for the Mexico market. Each year, the packaging must be modified to prevent others from copying the packaging and producing counterfeits

In June 2015, Premium Gold Flax Products, Inc., from Denhoff, North Dakota participated in Food Export’s Specialty Foods Buyers Mission at the 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show. At the Mission they chose to meet with International Buyers from Antigua, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland and Israel.

1-2-3 Gluten Free started using Food Export programs and services in 2004 and is now exporting to six countries. The company’s newest export endeavor stemmed from its participation in the Branded Program for an internationally attended trade show. Founder, Kim Ullner, got her products in front of several international buyers including one from Australia. “The buyer from Australia has committed to purchasing three containers of our baking mixes, which represents well over $93,000 in sales.”