Bringing U.S. Seed Potatoes to Brazil

Bringing U.S. Seed Potatoes to Brazil

Last December the United States Potato Board participated in a market visit to Brazil where the USPB focused on providing U.S. seed potatoes for the chip stock segment for the snack food market as they need better inputs that can be stored for longer periods.
USPB Marketing Operations Director Amy Burdett says the timing of the trip happened in a lull in the market, but the team learned what is needed for the future.
Burdett: “What we learned was if they could have varieties grown that could be stored — if they had adequate storage — then they could grow some U.S. varieties that would be better suited than local varieties. So if they needed to store things for a month for the processors to hold. This is something undeveloped in Brazil that hasn’t caught on widely but we’re starting to see where some of the bigger growers were building their own storage for their seed but also trying to have room for their potatoes that were ready to ship to the processors.”
Burdett says that these trips are very important for future trade
Burdett: “By being on the ground and in the country, we can see exactly what the issues are so we know what needs to be resolved. The face to face relationships are very important so it is very good that our exporters were able to meet with importers sometimes to renew business relationships and sometimes to introduce new ones.”

 

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