In June, the Montana Department of Agriculture and the Montana Pulse Crop Committee traveled to Colombia to support demand for Montana pulses such as lentils, chickpeas and peas.
Colombia is the sixth largest export market for US agricultural products in the world. Although its top imports are commodities like corn and soybeans, lentils and garbanzo beans are a prominent food staple for Colombian consumers. In the US these products are primarily grown in the northern plains states of Montana and North Dakota. Montana is the number one producer of peas and lentils in the United States with the most acres dedicated to pulse crops of any state in 2024.
The Hola Montana program from the Montana Department of Agriculture is a marketing program that allows grain importers in Latin American countries to become more familiar with MT pulse crops and the companies that sell them.
The first stop on our trip was the Feria Alimentec food show, the largest in South America. MDA brought companies that buy Montana Pulses and connected them with commercial customers in Colombia at the food show.
The trade mission also visited wholesale food markets like Corabastos in Bogota, the second largest open air wholesale food market in Latin America. Vendors bring every kind of food imaginable for wholesale purchase. . The Corabastos market moves 10,000 tons of food every day, for 25 million dollars in a cash only exchange, its busiest hours are between 3 and 4:00 am.
MDA and MPCC also met with two grain importers in Colombia that have already started working with MT Pulses through the Hola MT Program.
With Granipack based out of Medellin the trade team helped hand out free lentils in a door-to-door marketing campaign in the pastoral community of El Santuario.
With Gracol in Barranquilla the trade team handed out food packages to 500 households in the community, where we also toured the large port on the Magdalena River.
At each of these events MDA and MPCC met with the companies supply chain customers and gave a presentation on Montana pulse crops. These regional Colombian distributors and retailers were amazed by USDA’s quality grades for pulses and the Montana pulse crop industry.
This trip was funded by grants from MDA and Montana Pulse Growers themselves through the Montana Pulse Crop Checkoff.
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Northern Ag Network
