USA Rice Haiti Promotions Highlight Quality, Good Taste

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- While being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has consistently been one of the top five export destinations for U.S. rice.  Just last year, over 400,000 MT of long grain, milled rice was exported there – an amount that is 12 percent higher from 2014.  

Using USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP) USA Rice conducts nationwide promotions, targeting both consumers and the importers/sellers of U.S. rice.
 
“USA Rice is one of the few, if not the only, trade association conducting promotional activities in the country,” says Ives-Marie Chanel, USA Rice’s representative in country.  “Starting in 2013 when Vietnamese rice made its initial foray into Haiti, USA Rice spread the message of high quality, reliable, easy-to-cook U.S. rice throughout the country.”

And these promotions have been hugely successful.  While it was initially feared that Vietnamese rice would cut into the U.S. market share, so far there has been no long term negative effect from this new origin.  U.S. exports dipped initially when 66,000 MT of Vietnamese rice entered the market in 2013, but due to consistent, effective promotions that highlight the positive characteristics of U.S. rice, Haitians returned to their origin of choice.

“In several interviews with Haitian consumers, they complained that the Vietnamese rice does not cook well and is harder to digest,” says Park Eldridge, a rice merchant from Arkansas and a member of the USA Rice Western Hemisphere Promotion Subcommittee.  “USA Rice’s promotions highlighted the better quality of U.S. rice and really helped stop what could have been a huge hit to one of our largest export markets.”