In June the Montana Department of Agriculture and the Montana Pulse Crop Committee traveled to Colombia to promote Montana pulses with grain buyers and customers in that country. This week, the script has been flipped and Latin American grain purchasers are in Montana to learn about the pulse industry in the Treasure State.
Buyers from Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and Chile have made the trip, but they are here to do more than sightsee. International Marketing Specialist Weston Merrill with the Montana Department of Agriculture says these are major leaders in the South American Food Industry.
“The companies that are here are big players. We’re talking about sizable volumes, several rail cars and thousands of tons a year that these companies purchase.”
Weston says, “They are the decision maker, they aren’t here to just to get a look at what’s going on. They are here to make decisions.”
During their time in country these south American buyers are visiting Belle Pulses in Hingham, Colombia Grain in Plentywood, the State Grain Laboratory, Commercial Lynks in Ledger, Timeless Seeds in Ulm and the MSU Post Farm in Bozeman.
Industry leaders are speaking to the group including Montana Pulse Crop Committee Executive Director Liz Edmundson and Montana Wheat and Barley Committee Executive Director Kent Kupfner.
The trade mission is stopping by several local farms for these grain purchasers to see harvest of crops like lentils, chickpeas and dry peas.
Merrill says that the quality of Montana Pulses is a huge selling point for these buyers, “One buyer that’s really focused on repackaging commented, ‘When I buy from here it looks like the quality is so good that it is ready for repackaging when it gets to me, I don’t have to send it through a cleaning process.’ He was so excited about that.”
Building demand in multiple markets is important to support prices for Montana Pulse Growers. “From here we’re going to see more pulses going to South America which is really important for a steady stable market.”
Merrill says, “It’s really exciting for our Industry right now that India is buying they are a great and exciting market for us, but as we know the instability there can create challenges. Diversifying and expanding these markets into places where we have free trade agreements is really important…the Hola Montana project will continue, next year we’ll go to another food show in Latin America, probably Chile this time. So the relationship continues for sure.”
Hola Montana is the marketing program from the Montana Department of Agriculture that helps Latin American customers get familiar with Montana Pulses.
The Latin American Trade Team is in Montana August 18th through the 23rd.
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Northern Ag Network
