Sweet potato marketing group promotes Mexican exports

The American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute has announced its interest in Mexico as a potential importer for U.S. sweet potatoes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service's Emerging Markets Program has funded efforts to assess the market and help buyers embrace U.S. product.

The institute used this funding to conduct an assessment of the Mexican market for U.S. sweet potatoes and concluded there are plenty of opportunities for U.S. exports to Mexico if buyers there are educated on the grades, sizes and quality of U.S. product.

During interviews with Mexico's top importers, they explained there is strong interest in U.S. sweet potatoes, and contacts were made during the assessment, including with a large food retailer that began placing orders for U.S. sweet potatoes.

While export volumes currently are small, the marketing institute forecasts these numbers could grow 300% during the coming years if Mexican buyers become knowledgeable of the product and are offered promotional support to better source U.S. sweet potatoes. The association reports that exports have already climbed sharply in 2016.

"(Emerging Markets Program) funding was critical in helping (the institute) identify this important new opportunity, without which the market would have remained untapped," Johnny Barnes, American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute president, said in a news release.

The institute was formed in 2013 to promote U.S. sweet potatoes abroad, leveraging USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service-administered programs. These cost-share programs, such as the Emerging Markets Program and the Market Access Program, allow the association to reach markets that were untapped until recently.

Most sweet potato operations are small to medium family-owned farms. Market Access Program funds give them the assistance to access new export markets that they otherwise would not be able to reach. In fiscal year 2016, the marketing institute was allocated $106,000.