Success Stories

Utilizing Food Export programs and services has helped Black Swan Gourmet BBQ Sauces gain international presence and expand their products into new markets. Black Swan credits much of their export success to the Food Export Helpline that guides them through the labyrinth of paperwork for shipping, custom processes and regulations.

Shire City Herbals has been an active participant in programs offered by Food Export since 2015. In 2017 Shire City Herbals participated in the Market Builder Program for the first time. Their participation in the Rep Finder program resulted in their meeting with a national distributor to carry their Fire Cider brand across Canada.

Good To-Go, a specialty food supplier based in Kittery, Maine has utilized Food Export’s Branded Program to export internationally for the first time in 2017. Good To-Go is a family owned business co-founded by spouses Jennifer Scism and David Koorits with a mission to provide healthy and tasty meals on the go.

When it comes to doing business, perhaps no other company is as personable and down to earth as Bascom Family Farms. Led by their Director of Sales and Marketing Arnold Coombs, Bascom Family Farms boasts being the largest supplier of maple syrup and maple sugar in the United States, while still catering to the customer, small businesses, and environmental protection. Being in the business for seven generations, the Bascom Family is the gold standard for maple products both domestically and internationally.

In 2017, US Durum Products, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the 16th Congressional District, utilized Food Export’s Branded Program where they made a sale of couscous worth more than $30,000 USD to a buyer from the United Kingdom.

In June 2017, Premium Gold Flax Products, Inc., from Denhoff, North Dakota participated in Food Export’s Specialty Foods Buyers Mission at the 2017 Summer Fancy Food Show. At the Mission they chose to meet with International Buyers from Canada, Costa Rica, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea.

In May of 2017 while exhibiting at the SIAL Canada Show, La Preferida utilized Food Export’s Food Show PLUS!™ services to enhance their trade show experience. Taking part of pre-show education with the retail tour and market briefing helped the Chicago Supplier learn more about the market while experiencing it firsthand.

Participating in Food Export’s Branded Program for the past five years has helped Marathon Ginseng International Inc. from Weston, Wisconsin gain many foreign buyer contacts and increase total export sales. Specifically this past year the Wisconsin Supplier earned $500,000 in direct and indirect export sales to China and Hong Kong with the assistance of their allocated Market Access Program (MAP) Branded Program funds.

In 2017, McClure’s Pickles, located in Detroit, Michigan, in the 13th Congressional District, utilized Food Export-Midwest’s Branded Program to help offset their international marketing costs.

In 2017, Sweet Street Desserts, located in Reading, Pennsylvania in the 16th Congressional District, attended Food Export’s 2017 Midwest Buyers Mission where they met with a buyer from South Korea. This opportunity led them to establish new connections in South Korea’s market. From meeting with the buyer, they made sales to South Korea market worth $200,000.

J & J Group LLC doing business as Rufus Teague out of Shawnee, Kansas, in the 3rd Congressional District, has utilized Food Export’s Branded Program to make an impact in Switzerland. With the assistance of the program, in 2017 Rufus Teague had the largest amount of sales in Switzerland than they ever have before.

Located at the heart of Wisconsin dairy farmland in the small town of New Lisbon, Mill Haven Foods, LLC is a promising addition to Wisconsin’s agricultural reputation as the “Dairy State”.

In December of 2016, FoodSource, Inc., from Willowbrook, Illinois, attended Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia for Retail and Food Service Products.

In 2017, Dakota Specialty Enterprises, Inc. dba Dakota Specialty Milling, Roman Meal, located in Fargo, North Dakota, utilized Food Export’s Food Show PLUS!™ to gain export sales to Singapore.

Stonington, Maine, long-known for its rich and historic tradition of lobstering, is the home of Greenhead Lobster, a family owned business since 1997 that focuses on one product: wild-caught fresh Stonington, Maine lobster.

Shucks Maine Lobster started as a small, 20 seat, family owned Maine Lobster and Oyster bar in Kennebunkport, Maine. Johnny Hathaway, a Maine native, and his five young children, ages eight to eighteen at the time, opened the popular summer seafood attraction simply as a way for the five children to all work together during their summer vacation.

Original Juan Specialty Foods located in Kansas City, Kansas, in the 3rd Congressional District, utilized Food Export’s Branded Program to increase their sales in the Middle East, especially in the United Arab Emirates.

In June 2017, Naturally Recycled Proteins, located in Johnston, Iowa, in the 3rd Congressional District, attended Food Export’s Value-Added Feed Ingredients Buyers Mission at the 2017 World Pork Expo where they met with buyers from Brazil, China, Colombia, Mexico, Philippines, Romania and South Korea. In November, the Iowa Supplier had projected sales of $1,000,000 USD of their Pre-Mix Animal Feeds to South Korea and the Philippines.

New Composite Partners’ first introduction in the Australian market was in 2012 with utilization of Food Export’s Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program and has provided a solid foundation and opportunity for continued growth of marketing endeavors. Based on market response, the market has provided the Wisconsin based Supplier a great base and opportunity for continued expansion of product sales in that country.

During 2017, Nu Life Market located in Scott City, Kansas, in the 1st Congressional District; participated in Food Export’s Market Access Program (MAP) funded Branded Program. With the program assistance Nu Life Market gained knowledge and financial assistance to strengthen their export markets in China.