Food Export-Midwest's Sweets and Snacks Buyers Mission brings together U.S. Snack Suppliers and international buyers for one-on-one meetings during the biggest national candy trade show each year.
In May of 2019, CaramelCrisp LLC dba Garrett Popcorn Shops®, located in Chicago, Illinois, attended Food Export-Midwest’s Sweets & Snacks Buyers Mission,a program designed to bring international buyers together with U.S. based suppliers, where they had a successful meeting with a buyer from China. Just a few month's after this meeting, the buyer started exporting Garrett’s proprietary popcorn kernels and ingredients to the market.
Garrett Popcorn Shops and the Shanghai-based Chinese buyer, representing one of the largest high-end grocery stores in China, completed a three-week pilot project in Shanghai where a Garrett Popcorn Shop kiosk was installed in the store to offer fresh handmade gourmet Garrett Popcorn to excited Chinese customers.
According to Mark Staublin, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Garrett Popcorn Shops, “As we at Garrett often experience, the brand awareness of the Garrett Popcorn brand precedes introductions. This was exactly what happened as the buyer already knew of Garrett’s premium stature in the snack industry, its high quality and great taste. These qualities as well as the aspirational character of the brand, made Garrett quite suitable for the Chinese market. Meeting at the Buyers Mission was the perfect way to establish a relationship with this important Chinese retailer. Due to the success of this pilot program, we are very optimistic about future business in the region.”
CaramelCrisp LLC dba Garrett Popcorn Shops also participates in Food Export’s Branded Program and Online Product Catalog, as well as Food Export’s educational webinars and seminars.
Garrett Popcorn Shops offers handcrafted, artisanal popcorn in eight countries and on the garrettpopcorn.com website.
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.
Food Export Buyers Mission Success
A company headquartered in the U.S.
Midwest or Northeast regions
Top Market for U.S. Agriculture Products
Share your Success
Each year, hundreds of U.S. suppliers participate in the Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–Northeast's programs. As a result, companies are successful at generating new export sales, establishing new distributorship, expanding their production facilities,
and hiring additional employees. Read the Success Stories to learn more!
Healthy Food Company from New York State Makes Middle East Buyer Connections
Food Export Focused Trade Missions are a premier activity organized to pair U.S. suppliers with qualified international buyers. Due to the pandemic, these missions were shifted to virtual events in 2020.
Twenty-Four Year Branded Program Participant Still Finding Export Growth
Founded in 1992 as a functional ingredient manufacturing company, RIBUS supplies natural and organic rice ingredients to food, beverage, dietary supplement, and pet companies around the world.
Indiana's Albanese Confectionery Group Finds Export Sales at Food Export Buyers Mission
In January of 2019, Albanese Confectionery Group, located in Merrillville, Indiana attended the Food Export-Midwest’s Specialty Food Buyers Mission at the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show where they met with buyers from Costa Rica, Mexico, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
