ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 10, 2008) - The Maryland Department of Agriculture, together with the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), hosted a group of buyers representing some of the largest import, food service, and grocery retail companies in Korea on Thursday, June 26, and Friday, June 27. The group of six buyers traveled to Maryland to find suppliers for a wide variety of high-value processed food products. This reverse trade mission, which also included stops in Georgia and New York by the buyers, is a follow up to participation by MDA and SUSTA in the Seoul Food & Hotel Show in May.
"Korea is already one of the United States' most important agricultural trading partners," said Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson, who welcomed the delegation during its stay in Maryland. "These activities provide a highly cost-effective way to tap into the third largest import market in Asia and preliminary sales results are very promising."
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Three of the four suppliers exhibiting in Seoul Food and Hotel Show booked sales of more than $1.3 million and MDA anticipates that the two-day visit to Maryland alone will generate more than $500,000 in additional export revenues for local companies.
On Thursday, MDA organized an all-day series of meetings in Annapolis to give companies from around the state the opportunity to showcase their product lines. Attending Maryland companies included some of the state's best-known to one of its newest: Allied International, Glen Burnie; American Coffee Federation, Annapolis; Barcelona Nut and Tulkoff Food Products, Baltimore; Burris Logistics, Elkton, Dragonfly Farms, Mt. Airy; F.D. Trading, Reisterstown; Gifford's Ice Cream & Candy, Silver Spring; McCormick & Co., Sparks; Mama Vida's, Randallstown; Salter's Chesapeake Gourmet, Royal Oak; and Sea Watch International, Easton.
On Friday, the buyers toured McCormick's Hunt Valley plant, Tulkoff's new production facility in Dundalk, and Boordy Vineyards in Hydes. Site visits such as these underscore the scope and diversity of Maryland's products and help to create a broader understanding of agricultural resources within the state.
The delegation, accompanied by both MDA's International Marketing Specialist and the Market Promotion Specialist from the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office at the Embassy in Seoul, then attended the New York Fancy Food Show held on June 29 to July 1. The Fancy Food Show is one of America's oldest and largest food shows and features some of the most innovative and exotic specialty food processors from around the country and the world.
Almost 200 companies from the Southern region of the United States exhibited at the show, and among them were Gifford's as well as Really Raw Honey and The Seasoned Palate/tsp spices from Baltimore. The Korean buyers met with these companies and other regional suppliers during the show's run.
A highlight of each year's event is the awarding of the Silver and Gold sofi Awards for excellence in designated food categories. From a field of close to 2,100 entries, Baltimore's The Seasoned Palate and its tsp spices Sweet Basic package won not only two sofi Silvers, the first for Food Gift and a second for Innovation in Packaging Design or Function, but also garnered the Gold sofi Award for best Food Gift at the show.
