Steve Vargas recaps the California salmon project
Oct 11, 2023
COLOGNE, GERMANY – The USA Rice booth at Anuga, the leading global trade fair for the food and beverage industry, opened here last Saturday welcoming traders and food professionals from around the globe. Ten different trade shows run concurrently under the same roof at Anuga, encompassing every segment of the food and beverage industry and showcasing the best of what each has to offer.
“The bi-annual trade show is an excellent resource for gathering market information,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, who was in attendance. “We learned about new market trends, the current supply and demand situation, and other trade-related topics. We also collected more than 100 trade leads that will be shared with our members offering potential new buyers and markets for all types of rice.”
There were 188 exhibitors in the USA Pavilion this year including USA Rice. According to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Administrator Daniel Whitley, this was not only the largest number of U.S. exhibitors ever at Anuga, but the largest number ever at any FAS-endorsed trade show.
This year USA Rice also hosted a reception welcoming more than 50 guests including current and potential buyers from across the region as well as USDA/FAS staff. On the agenda were presentations by USA Rice members Todd Burich of ADM Rice and Steve Vargas of Sun Valley Rice. Burich provided an encouraging overview on the outlook and supply of this year’s rice crop, and, in keeping with Anuga’s theme of sustainable growth, Vargas talked about the California Salmon Project where rice farmers and fish biologists are working together to help struggling salmon populations by raising juvenile salmon in winter-flooded rice fields.
“Attending Anuga is always beneficial to us and other USA Rice members,” said Derek Alarcon of Farmers’ Rice Cooperative, who participated in the event. “Touching base with our trade contacts there shows commitment to our markets and is an excellent way of meeting new contacts throughout the entire region.”
Boasting around 140,000 trade visitors from 200 countries, Anuga 2023 exceeded all expectations.