Reverse Trade Mission Brings Foodservice Importers, Distributors, and Retailers from Around the World to the Pacific Northwest

Earlier this month, a Reverse Trade Mission (RTM) brought 53 international foodservice importers, distributors, and retailers to the Pacific Northwest for a U.S. potato farm-to-fork journey. The RTM participants represented ten of the potato industry’s major export regions: Central America, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman).

With the mission to strengthen demand for potatoes, which includes increasing purchases of U.S. potatoes in international markets, the RTM was designed to showcase all that is involved in producing high-quality U.S. potatoes and potato products—from production research and growing/harvesting to storage capabilities, processing, and exporting. The five-day event fostered relationships between potential and current customers of U.S. potatoes with suppliers and other members of the U.S. potato industry, including:

• A tour at Oregon State University Hermiston Agricultural Research & Extension Center
• Harvest, Farm, and Storage Tours
• Potato Processing Plant Tours
• Meeting with Washington State Potato Commission
• Port of Tacoma Tour

Potatoes USA hosts RTMs annually to showcase U.S. potatoes and generate sales for all formats of high-quality U.S. potatoes.