CHENGDU, CHINA -- Last month, USA Rice and other U.S. agricultural trade organizations and Chinese importers showcased more than 50 high-quality American food, beer, wine, and spirits products to 500 participants, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Trade Office. Agricultural products that were represented included U.S. rice, poultry and meat, dairy and cheese, and frozen potatoes, as well as cranberries, raisins, and pistachios.
USA Rice had a booth at the trade show distributing U.S. rice brochures and recipe cards to visitors. The recipient of the first shipment of U.S. rice, Sungiven, donated U.S. rice as sample giveaways at the booth and for hotel staff to prepare jambalaya for more than 300 guests at a VIP reception.
“We were pleased to see Sungiven participate in this activity, allowing us to share U.S. rice to all of the interested visitors,” said Jim Guinn, USA Rice director of Asia promotion programs. “Additionally, we garnered four qualified contacts who expressed interest in U.S. rice, requesting samples and U.S. exporters’ contact information, including a foodservice company to test in their restaurant.”
The U.S. has had market access in China since late 2018 when China certified the first group of U.S. rice milling facilities meeting the requirements of the phytosanitary protocol. In January 2020, the U.S. and China signed the “U.S.-China Phase One Agreement,” committing China to $80 billion in purchases of U.S. commodities by the end of 2021. The first commercial shipments of U.S. rice occurred in October 2020
(see USA Rice Daily, October 27, 2020).