Success Stories

Kontos Foods, Inc. from Paterson, New Jersey is a U.S. based manufacturer and distributor of traditional Greek and Mediterranean foods. Founded in 1987, Kontos works with food service and retail market segments, domestically and internationally. The family-owned company specializes in hand-stretched Flatbreads, including the Kontos Pocket-Less Pita® (producing over 60 varieties of multi-ethnic Pita and Flatbreads), Fillo Dough, Fillo Pastries, and other high-quality Mediterranean foods. Kontos Foods, which has over 275 employees, was founded by Evripides (Evris) Kontos and his son Steve, who together bring over 100 years’ experience in the premium food industry.

King Orchards, Inc., located in Central Lake, Michigan, of the 2nd Congressional District made a new export sale and contact with distributors in South Korea and China as a result of their participation in the 2017 Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Trade Mission to China and the 2017 Food Export Focused Trade Mission to South Korea. According to Juliette King, Project Manager for King Orchards, “We were able to make a first ever export sale valued at $1,300 as a direct result from our participation in Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to South Korea. We also have a pending export sales order valued at $31,000.”

Fiberstar Inc, located in River Falls, Wisconsin, in the 7th Congressional District, has participated in Food Export – Midwest’s Branded Program, a 50% cost reimbursement program funded by the Market Access Program (MAP), since 2005.

In 2018, St. Amand Trade headquartered in Paxico, Kansas utilized Market Access Program funds through participation in Food Export’s Advisor Program and Market Builder programs to identify new markets for craft beers, wines and spirits.

In 2017, Agri-Dairy Products Inc., located in Purchase, New York, in the 17th Congressional District, attended Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to Mexico for Food Ingredients. The market offered good opportunities for the U.S. Supplier to grow their food ingredient exports to the Mexican market while also provided educational opportunities during the Mission.

West Des Moines, Iowa based China Iowa Group has utilized Food Export’s Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program to help expand their export sales for three years. Last year the Iowa Supplier concentrated on expanding their exports to China since they were already involved in sourcing and exporting goods between the United States and China. They hoped to increase their sales and make Jasper Winery a well-known brand and gift in China.

In August of 2017, Amlat, LLC from Madison, Wisconsin participated in Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to Hong Kong for Retail, Food Service and Healthy Products. During the Mission Amlat was part of a Market Briefing presented by local USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, a local retail store tour, a tour of the Hong Kong Food Expo and one-on-one Buyer/Supplier meetings.

Death’s Door Spirits, based in Middleton, Wisconsin, began in 2005 as a means to restore agriculture and a sustainable farming economy to Washington Island, Wisconsin. Distilling since 2007, Death’s Door uses all of the winter wheat grown on the island in its spirits, and harvests juniper berries for its Gin. Death’s Door is one of the original craft spirits manufacturers in the United States and is proud to continue its commitment to the families on the island and to produce exceptional award-winning spirits.

In 2017, DeIorio Foods Inc, located in Utica, New York, in the 22nd Congressional District, attended the Restaurants Canada Show by utilizing Market Access Program (MAP) funds from the Food Export Branded Program. Utilizing the 50% cost reimbursement program helped them defer costs of exhibiting at the show.

In February, FOODMatch Inc., from New York, New York, attended the CHFA Show in Canada with support from Food Export’s Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program. The 50% cost reimbursement program assisted the supplier by deferring the costs associated with exhibiting at the show and allowing the company to focus on finding new buyers for their Mediterranean specialty food products.

Living Water Commodities, a division of Hawkeye Gold of Ankeny, Iowa participated in Food Export – Midwest’s Value-Added Feed Ingredient Buyers Mission at the World Pork Expo in June 2018.

Based in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, Great Lakes Bio Systems, Inc. is “committed to manufacturing natural products that perform consistently”. With these core values and their utilization of Food Export programs and services the company has been gaining export sales since 2016.

In March 2018, Dozers Dental Chews DBA Pure Technology, located in West Henrietta, New York, in the 25th Congressional District, attended Food Export’s 2018 Pet Food Buyers Mission at Global Pet Expo where they interacted with a buyer from New Zealand.

In 2017, JonnyPops, LLC, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the 5th Congressional District, applied for funding from the Market Access Program funded Branded Program with Food Export. They were accepted into the program where they are eligible to receive 50% cost reimbursement for a wide variety of international marketing activities to assist companies in breaking into new markets.

Real Kosher Ice Cream DBA Klein’s Kosher Ice Cream is a kosher ice cream business, located in Brooklyn, New York that utilized Food Export’s Branded Program in 2017. Klein’s Kosher Ice Cream used the Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program to increase their brand awareness and expand their consumer base in the Canadian market while deferring costs of international marketing activities.

TEFCO, an Illinois based Supplier utilized Food Export’s Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program to increase their market share in China in 2017. While already exporting their Oat Milk product to Taiwan with great success, last year TEFCO focused on expanding their product export to other countries in Asia.

In 2017, Lovely Candy Co, from Algonquin, Illinois, participated in Food Export’s Midwest Buyers Mission. During the Mission the Illinois Supplier met with buyers from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. While introducing their products to all of the buyers, it was the buyer from Australia who took the greatest interest in their candies.

In January of 2017 Total Health Nutritional Foods, Inc., from Minneapolis, Minnesota participated in Food Export’s Specialty Food Buyers Mission at the 2017 Winter Fancy Food Show. At the mission the Minnesota Supplier met with buyers from Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan to introduce their LutriA products.

In 2014 Olympia Food Industries started using Food Export’s Branded Program to expand their export business. The company developed an export plan to increase sales to Canada and utilized their allocated Branded Program funds tap into potential customers in the market. By increasing their brand awareness and establishing relationships with new distributors and food service contacts they focused on advertising, trade shows, shipping samples and distributing promotional materials to the market.

One of the rewards of working at Food Export is watching a supplier’s export sales grow as they continually use our programs year after year. Seven Sundays, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the 5th Congressional District is a great example of this. Seven Sundays is a small, growing food company that produces muesli for retail distribution. Hannah and Brady Barnstable started Seven Sundays in 2011.