The Pacific Northwest – A priority export market for Alberta companies

Are you interested in exporting to the Pacific Northwest? Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation is looking to develop a 2-day educational mission for agriculture and agri-food companies in Seattle, WA, U.S. on February 7 to 9, 2023.

“Seattle is an attractive market for new Alberta exporters due to its proximity, high growth opportunity, and openness to Canadian food products. These and other factors make the Pacific Northwest region a priority export market for Alberta companies,” says Francis Duahn, international initiatives officer with the Alberta government. “Overall, the food and beverage market in the Pacific Northwest region is estimated at more than USD $48 billion, 60% of which is imported.”

This program will give Alberta companies with limited international trade experience the opportunity to gather market intelligence, build relationships with key in-market support contacts and U.S. retailers and more.

The proposed program consists of:

• one day focused on export readiness and education seminars, comprised of presentations of distributors, retailers, customs and food brokers, and other local industry representatives, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on labelling requirements for the U.S.
• one day of site visits to local retailers to undertake market and competitive research, establish price-point references, ask questions and connect with store merchandising personnel, distributor product brochures/samples and raise awareness of their products with retailers in the Seattle region

Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in this mission, Alberta agri-food companies:

• may not have export experience, but are prepared, organized and highly committed to expanding internationally, or
• have some export experience and are determined to leverage those successes into new export markets

Expenses

Companies may be eligible for funding to help offset travel costs through the Alberta Export Expansion Program.

Please note the program may change based on availability of presenters and participating companies. In addition, the decision to proceed with this initiative is dependent on the level of interest received from companies.

Contact

Connect with Francis Duahn for more information:

Phone: 587-873-4278
Email: [email protected]

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