Sial is a Success for USDBC Despite Difficult Trade Environment

FAS Administrator Ken Isley and USDBC’s Rebecca Bratter at the Pulse Pavilion at SIAL

Despite the prolonged trade tensions with EU resulting in 25% tariffs levied on U.S. dry bean imports, there was no reduction in interest in U.S. dry beans at the SIAL 2018 food show in Paris, France. SIAL is one of the premier global food shows with 7,200 exhibitors from 119 countries. USDBC once again had a very large presence at our US Pulses Pavilion with an ideal location inside the expo hall. We featured our modern and newly designed booth that was updated in 2016 in celebration of the International Year of Pulses. This format has proved successful with room for private one on one business meetings and a special display area featuring U.S. dry bean samples in easy to see plexiglass containers. This year there was particular interest in garbanzos, dark red kidney beans, white kidney beans, and black beans, despite the tariffs. This is extremely positive news for our industry and we can boast the following statistics; 250 trade leads were registered in the USDBC database, a 6% increase over ANUGA 2017; France was the best performing country in terms of the number of leads, followed by Algeria, Morocco, the USA and Turkey. USDBC took in trade leads from 71 different countries, of this year’s 250 trade leads, 40 were rated as “A”, the top level for potential sales. The full SIAL report along with trade leads are available on USDBC’s members only website. Next year we will be at ANUGA in Cologne, Germany.

The new dry beans display at the upgraded Pulse Pavilion