STATEMENT BY
COALITION TO PROMOTE U.S. AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS
TO THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIALTY CROPS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 2007

Good afternoon.  My name is Patrick Ford; I am the international marketing director of Ford’s Gourmet Foods. I am honored to have been selected among my peers to speak on behalf of the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, and how they increase export potential for US companies. Although our company’s growth in recent years into an internationally recognized gourmet food company ought to be testimony enough to the success of the MAP and FMD programs, it is important to understand the many ways in which these programs have been able to significantly increase our foreign trade in a relatively short time. I thank you for that opportunity.

I hope you will consider my testimony to be justification for a significant increase in funding of these programs so that other small US companies may take advantage of the vast export market available, and gain assistance in conquering the many roadblocks that commonly interfere with or prevent altogether the possibility of export.

About Ford’s Gourmet Foods

My family has been in the food business for many years.  My great-grandfather, Andrew J. Ford and his sons Connie Mac (my grandfather) and Carl had a small farm outside of Raleigh, NC back in the early 1940s.  With a small crop surplus to sell one year, they founded Ford’s Produce Company.

My parents, Lynn and Sandi Ford took over the business from my grandfather who retired in 1985. My mother began a new division, Ford’s Gourmet Foods, a specialty foods company. 

In 1992, we introduced Bone Suckin’ Sauce, an all-natural, Western North Carolina style barbeque sauce.  It is my grandmother’s recipe that my uncle modified and my mom named, and it changed everything about our business.

When I re-joined the family business after college in 1997, we shipped a few small orders to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Canada. There was no brand awareness in the overseas markets, no product support, and no real marketing plan to speak of.  The international buyers that we did business with found us at the San Francisco and New York food shows. We had no knowledge of the regulations and we basically did not know how to get into the game. We were dependent on the people in other countries to tell us what to do.

I knew there must be market demand in other parts of the world.   With the help of the Foreign Agricultural Service, North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Southern US Trade Association and MAP Funds, we researched countries, trends, market conditions, and potential customers. Our first international trade show was the Specialty and Fine Food Fair in London in 2003. It proved to be a huge success, but it came with a hefty price tag. We knew that we would not be able to afford to attend international trade shows on an ongoing basis without help.   

We became a member of SUSTA and were made aware of MAP Funds shortly after that show.

Since then we have relied on MAP to help us with many items including correct labeling for all our products. Foreign labeling is not just about language translation. For example in England, each port has different customs requirements, different ways of listing the ingredients on each label, and they do not accept the US nutritional panel. In Canada, Montreal has different labeling guidelines than the rest of the country. The details of the labels alone can take months to work out, and be extremely costly for a small business to produce. Funding from MAP programs has also helped with market research, information on qualified buyers, trade show support, shipping costs, advertising, and product support.  Most small businesses do not have the resources, time or money to fully investigate all the different export requirements.  It simply will not get done.

MAP branded funds level the playing field for small businesses looking to expand into the international market place.  They have provided the advice and guidance to enter into the market. Since 2004 our sales in the UK have increased 300%, and we now have a presence in over 30 countries. 

Breaking into a foreign market doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of building familiarity by having a presence at trade shows, sending samples, advertising, in-store sampling, and building relationships with buyers to make a product successful on foreign soil. Add to this the fact that our foreign competitors are constantly increasing their investment in market promotions, and I hope you can see why without significant increases in MAP and FMD program funding, it will be impossible for the US products to keep up. And while these same competitors are focusing their export dollars on the US, jobs on US soil are at stake.

Conclusion

I know that increasing MAP funding means a major investment in the future of exports for our country. I represent the small business. We get up early, stay late, and don’t take days off. We do this to be able to seize opportunities. This is not only an opportunity, but a partnership between the US government and all small businesses. The goals of this partnership are to benefit the small businesses by developing opportunities abroad, and to benefit our country by protecting and creating jobs, and to begin to correct the trade deficit by protecting small businesses across the country.

In closing, please vote to increase the MAP program budget to $325 million.  I cannot stress enough the importance of MAP and FMD to the success of US small business exports. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to share with you and the subcommittee some of our successes, and I would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have.