Issue 4, 2008
In this Issue: 

Michigan Companies Participate in the SIAL Paris Show

Chartreause Tea speaking with a buyer at  the SIAL Paris Show.

The SIAL Paris Show held October 19-23, 2008 attracted over 145,000 people, with over 55% of those buyers from outside of the French market. Michigan companies exhibiting at the show were part of the 9,300 exhibitors from more than 100 countries. Michigan companies participating in the show included Chartreuse Tea, Flatout, Shoreline Fruit, and the U.S. High Bush Blueberry Council, representing Michigan blueberry growers. 

The Michigan companies received assistance at the show through the Food Show Plus! Services offered by Food Export Association of the Northeast. Services included a French interpreter for the five days of the show, market research on their product, introductions to French buyers, and import information about the French market.  The companies had combined expected increase in export sales over the next two years of $2.2 million.

Canadian Export Workshop Held in East Lansing

Canadian in-market representative, Kathy Boyce, talks about opportunities for Michigan companies in the Canadian Market.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Food Export Association of the Midwest USA hosted an export workshop on November 7, 2008, in East Lansing at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. Twenty-four attendees representing 14 companies participated in the full-day seminar.

Kathy Boyce, Food Export Association's Canadian In-Market Representative, spoke about the opportunities available to Michigan companies interested in exporting to Canada. She gave an overview of the Canadian market, including consumer trends, top exports, best product prospects, and information about NAFTA.

Brandon Davis, generic program coordinator, presented information on programs and services available for Michigan food and agricultural companies, offered by Food Export Association of the Midwest. More information on the programs and services is available at Food Export's Web site, www.foodexport.org.

Dennis Lynch, Food Export Helpline consultant, presented information on a wide range of exporting subjects including export distribution, pricing, quoting, terms of sale, and export documentation and payments. He also discussed specific information about NAFTA and the services offered through Food Export Helpline.

MDA and Food Export Association of the Midwest are planning future seminars and webinars. If you have ideas or topics that you would like to learn more about please contact Jamie Zmitko-Somers at zmitkoj@michigan.gov or 517-241-3628. Additional export education courses can be found online at www.exportessentials.org.

Branded Program Webinar

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Food Export Association of the Midwest-USA will host a Branded Program webinar on January 13, 2009. The free webinar will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will last approximately one hour.

The webinar will focus on the requirements for the program, what is eligible for reimbursement, how to apply, and other information about the Branded Program. Joe Yotti, Food Export Association's Branded Program Coordinator, will lead the discussion.

The Branded Program is a cost-share program that offers 50% reimbursement on pre-approved activities. To learn more about the Branded Program, visit www.foodexport.org. Examples of expenses that can be reimbursed include:

• Trade show expenses (including all overseas shows and some domestic shows)
• Travel to overseas shows for two company employees
• Modification to labels when required by importing government
• Production of advertising, press kits, and point-of-sale material
• In-store demonstrations
• Freight costs for sample shipments
• Site rental, duplication of materials, translation and interpretation services for seminars for trade

The Branded Program webinar is offered by MDA in order to provide information to companies in a convenient format, eliminating the need for travel. Participants will have the opportunity for discussion and Question & Answer.

MDA Wants You!

As you may know, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) has recently completed a review of its Select Michigan Program.  The goal of this review was to seek input on how to take the program statewide and expand on its successes over the last five years.  Two of the key recommendations made were to create a Select Michigan Advisory Committee, which will be chaired by Director Koivisto, and the development of a dedicated Select Michigan website.

Select Michigan Advisory Committee
This committee will be comprised of seven members representing many facets of Michigan's agriculture industry.  We are encouraging applications from all regions of the state including commodity groups, processors, producers, retailers and wholesalers to provide advice and guidance on the Select Michigan Program, and the development of both a short and long term strategic plan for the program.  Meetings will be held at least quarterly; starting in 2009.

Website Guidance Committee
This committee will meet monthly for the next 10 months and members will include businesses, specialty crop commodity groups and organizations, non-profits, and universities.  It will be responsible for the creation of a Select Michigan website which will include a statewide electronic network of local, regional, state, and commodity websites and be designed to support shared learning, information, and projects.  It will work in collaboration with the Select Michigan Advisory Committee.  Funding has been secured from the Specialty Crop Block Grant to complete this project.

If you are interested in being considered for either or both of these committees, please provide the following information to Brenda Smith no later than Friday, January 9, 2009, at smithbl9@michigan.gov or 517/373-1052.

• Name:
• Business or Company Name:
• Address, City, Zip:
• Phone:
• E-mail:
• Committee(s) you wish to serve on:
• Have you been a part of the Select Michigan Program? 
• If so, in what capacity?

Winery Establishment Conference
February 17-19, 2009

The Grape and Wine Council is co-sponsoring a two-day Winery Establishment Conference in February 2009 in Benton Harbor Michigan, organized by Michigan State University with notable speakers from across the U.S.  Details are available on the Grape and Wine website. 

Michigan Wine Industry Annual Meeting Crystal Mountain Resort - February 25-27, 2009

The Michigan Wine Industry Annual Meeting will be held in late February and is open to anyone who is interested in attending.

Lodging reservation information is now available on the Council's Web site www.michiganwines.com under Industry Resources. The deadline for discounted room rates is January 26, 2009.

Sessions will run from early afternoon on February 25 to late morning on February 27. A detailed program will be posted on the Council's Web site in early January. The following is a preliminary list of session topics:

• Wine Trail Roundtable
• New Small Distillers License - info and panel discussion
• Winemaking Sessions - introductory and advanced sessions
• Wine Microbiology and Brettanomyces
• Use of Sulphur Dioxide in Winemaking
• Know Your Customer - analysis of Council's consumer databases
• International Riesling Foundation Update
• Michigan Wine and Spirits Competition
• Trends in Beverage Alcohol
• Financial Issues in the Wine Industry - banking, appraisals
• Owners' Meeting
• Council Marketing Opportunities for Wineries
• Tackling the Chicago Market
• Federal and State Grant Opportunities
• Winemakers' Tasting - Gewurztraminer/Traminette

Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council for 2009

The council meetings are scheduled for 2009 and are always open to the public. Please confirm date, location, and time closer to the date.

• January 22 - Lansing
• May 7 - Traverse City
• August 6 - East Lansing
• November 19 or December 3 - Southwest Michigan

April 2009 is Michigan Wine Month

For more information on how you can participate in promoting Michigan wines in April, visit the Industry Resources section of the Council's Web site for point of sale materials or contact Karel Bush at 517-241-4468.

MDA Agricultural Innovation Grant Program Final Report

Processing equipment that was installed at Safie's Specialty Foods as a result of the Julian-Stille Grant Program

The goal of the MDA Agricultural Innovation Program is to accelerate the growth of Michigan's $63.7 billion food and agriculture industry.  The program received an appropriation of $10 million with $5 million earmarked for grants in 2007. The goal of the grant program is to establish, retain, expand, attract or develop value-added processing and production operations in Michigan, through innovative financing assistance to processors, agri-businesses, producers, local units of government, and legislatively-authorized commodity boards in Michigan.

• In March and April 2006, MDA conducted grant writing workshops across the state, and 374 people attended these workshops.
• In July of 2006, MDA received 225 grant proposals with requests totaling more than $36 million.
• The proposals were evaluated and scored by a Joint Evaluation Committee. 
• In October of 2006, MDA recommended the funding of 40 proposals, which covered 27 Michigan counties.
• To date 39 out of 40 companies have completed their projects.  Total new private capital investment from the projects is $36,041,848.00.
• MDA paid out a total of $4,412,321.00 in grant reimbursements.
• MDA leveraged state funds to private industry investments at an 8-to1 ratio.
• 119.5 new jobs were created by these projects.
• Read the MDA grantee success stories here.

Questions should be directed to Mike DiBernardo at 517- 373-9144 or at dibernardom@michigan.gov.

MI Ag Department will host a "Select Michigan Pavilion" at AFPD Retail Trade Show in April

Michigan Food and Agriculture Companies Invited to Participate

There was so much to see and sample at last year's Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers Annual Food & Petroleum Trade Show held at Rock Financial Showplace in Novi in late April. The event showcased new products, fantastic food, show specials and innovative services. It was so successful for the Michigan companies participating, that MDA will again have a pavilion in 2009.
The Select Michigan Program is seeking Michigan food and agriculture companies to showcase their products in a special "Select Michigan Pavilion" at the 2009 Associated Food & Petroleum Dealers, Inc. (AFPD) Annual Trade Show.  The show will be held April 27-28, 2009, at Rock Financial Showplace in Novi.   The Select Michigan Program is offering exhibit space within the pavilion to Michigan food processors, specialty food companies and other food and agriculture businesses that utilize or feature Michigan specialty crops at a discounted rate.

Ten, 10' x 10' booth spaces will be made available within the Select Michigan Pavilion.  Companies can reserve whole booths or half-booth spaces.  Booths feature carpeting, curtained backdrop, chairs, table, company name sign, limited electricity, complimentary ice, and complimentary customer tickets.   The deadline for reserving booth space is Friday, March 20, 2009.

Priority will be given to companies featuring and selling products made from Michigan specialty crops.  These companies will also receive a larger discount for booth space, supplemented by the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant, administered by MDA. Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and nursery crops (including floriculture). Non-specialty crop companies are welcome to participate if booth space is available, at a slightly higher rate than the specialty crop rate, but still lower than the regular exhibitor price.

For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Christine Lietzau, Select Michigan Program Manager, at 517-373-9800 or lietzauc@michigan.gov.

 International Promotion Calendar

In the past we've offered a listing of upcoming events in a small calendar. In an effort to offer you more comprehensive information we are now providing a link to an upcoming events page, which in turn offers links to individual event information.

• Upcoming Events: Trade Shows, Buyers' Missions and Food Show Plus! Services Information 

Contact Information