MARSHALLVILLE, GA – Last week, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) held its inaugural Global Friends of Agriculture Awards, honoring importers around the world for their commitment to purchasing high-quality U.S. food and agricultural products. Two of the first honorees are rice buyers: Luke Franklin of S&B Herba Foods in the United Kingdom, and Tetsuya Naruse of Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd. in Japan.
The awards were the centerpiece of a two-day, USDA-sponsored program in Georgia that brought honorees together with USDA cooperator organizations for speakers, site visits, and an awards ceremony. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins delivered remarks at the ceremony, and Luke Lindberg, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, served as Master of Ceremonies.
While neither rice honoree was able to travel to Georgia, Mollie Buckler, USA Rice Senior Director for Grower and International Relations, attended on behalf of the U.S. rice industry and joined the other awardees and cooperators throughout the program.
“Our customers overseas are a big reason U.S. rice farmers have markets beyond our borders,” Buckler said. “Recognizing buyers like S&B Herba and Yoshinoya tells them the United States values these partnerships, and it tells our industry members that the relationships we build abroad are seen and supported at the highest levels of USDA.”
The two companies reflect the range of customers U.S.-grown rice serves. S&B Herba is one of the leading rice millers and suppliers in the UK, supplying retail and food service customers. Yoshinoya, one of Japan’s best-known restaurant chains, serves rice to millions of diners each year. In both cases, the purchasing decision rests on consistent quality, dependable supply, and long-term trust between buyer and seller.
On Wednesday, prior to the awards ceremony, the group visited the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus to tour its Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center. Participants heard directly from entrepreneurs who have used the centers expertise and facilities to develop new products and bring them to market.
Cooperator organizations also took part in a roundtable with the awardees before the event’s conclusion on Thursday, giving each group a chance to describe its industry, its export priorities, and the innovations shaping its sector. For USA Rice, the conversation was an opportunity to highlight the quality, sustainability, and versatility of U.S. rice.
USA Rice is a longtime FAS cooperator and works with USDA to build and maintain markets for U.S. rice around the world through promotion, trade servicing, and policy engagement. The Global Friends of Agriculture Awards add a new way to recognize the customers at the other end of that work.