Success Stories

Colorado based company, East West Beer Exchange, was founded in 2017 after CEO, Drew Wolman, identified a need for US craft beers in eastern Europe. Little by little the company grew and are now exporting craft beers from 16 American Breweries to 12 European countries. In 2022, they joined the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association’s FundMatch Program, funded by the USDA’s Market Access Program. They utilized the funding to increase the number of samples and giveaway items they brought to the International Food & Drink Event in London which they attended alongside the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the USDA. At the event, they made connections with 15 buyers from the Netherlands and 12 buyers from the United Kingdon. Since then, they have done business with 3 of the buyers from the Netherlands and are in “very promising” talks with a buyer from the UK.

In February of 2022, Hilltop Ranch of Ballico, California, participated in the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade show, Gulfood. Through the Market Access Program and WUSATA’s FundMatch program, Hilltop Ranch received partial reimbursement for their booth space, freight costs, and other travel expenses. This year’s trip to Gulfood was critical due to an ownership change in January. It was especially important for Hilltop Ranch to see their customers and display their quality of products will not decline but continue to improve.

The Chief Operating Officer, Raj Samran, had this to say about his FundMatch experience for this activity. “FundMatch was a great asset to utilize for Hilltop to make attending the trade show more affordable. WUSATA has always been a great resource for Hilltop Ranch to help market our California Almonds.” The connections we made at Gulfood resulted in a growing customer list with 50 new distributorships, expansion to new markets, and a 15% spike in sales due to their participation.

With the help of WUSATA and FundMatch, Hilltop Ranch has been able to expand their brand by being physically present at these tradeshows, it has been integral in growing their business. A direct quote from Raj Samran, “Hilltop Ranch is grateful for organizations like WUSATA that make selling almonds worldwide possible. We look forward to continuing our work with WUSATA and taking Hilltop Ranch, Inc. to even higher levels.”

Vet Worthy, a rapidly growing pet products supplier based out of Tempe, Arizona, joined the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association in 2016. Since joining, they have utilized WUSATA’s FundMatch Program, funded through the Market Access Program (MAP),to double their impact at trades shows by increasing the size of their booth space and displays.

PROBAR joined the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association’s FundMatch program in 2019. Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, the company specializes in healthy, plant-based meal replacement bars. The FundMatch program, which is funded by the USDA’s Market Access Program, has helped the company via 50% reimbursement for packaging that meets each foreign countries’ requirements. With their country-compliant packaging, they have been able to meet market specific needs and reach consumers in their native languages, nearly doubling their global reach since joining. They are now exporting their products to 28 countries including Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany, to name a few.

During a series of face-to-face meetings with buyers, the small company met with a new distributor and secured their first order for fresh Washington cherries. The initial air-shipped orders were completed in the summer of 2019 and have generated new revenue valued at nearly $28,000. S.A. International expects to continue doing business with this distributor for future crop harvests.

Bell-Carter Foods is a family-owned table olive and olive oil supplier from Lafayette, California. Since international accounts can develop from any number of network connections, they make sure to participate in outbound trade missions coordinated by the Global Connect program of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), and funded through the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP). One unexpected but welcome customer that resulted from the 2018 USDA Outbound Trade Mission to Taiwan is Costco in mainland China.

NOH Foods of Hawaii is a minority-owned seasoning and sauce manufacturer based in Honolulu, HI. After participating in the 2018 Australia Inbound Trade Mission to Natural Products Expo West, they gained a line on a distributor from Australia who also serves Canada and Europe.

By using FundMatch, they were able to double sales in the UK from 2017 to 2018 by launching a direct-to-consumer approach that works particularly well in the UK and Europe. JaceyCakes also uses FundMatch to exhibit at trade shows that attract large numbers of international buyers, such as Expo West.

They were able to attend the show in 2019 by using WUSATA’s cost-matching program FundMatch, which is also funded by MAP. With a new distributor in place in the UAE, Caffe D’Vita has increased sales in the Middle East 100% over the previous year, and they expect that growth to continue into 2020.

Northwest Hazelnut Company, a small agribusiness from Oregon, is keeping Oregon-grown hazelnuts in front of international buyers by participating in the 2018 FundMatch Program. FundMatch is coordinated by the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA) and funded by the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP). During 2018, they attended the SIAL China trade show, which is a key opportunity to stay in front of their customer base and promote value-added products, such as processed nut forms.