There are major trade shows dedicated to food and agriculture all over the world, and SUSTA has pavilions at many of them. For instance, Arkansas’s Caribe Producers, makers of Five Star Jerky, exhibited in the SUSTA pavilion at Gulfood in Dubai in 2020 and 2021. They were even named a finalist for Most Innovative Halal product in 2021.
“Without SUSTA, we would not have considered promoting our beef jerky internationally because of how daunting it could be.” To support the expense of going to this major show, Caribe applied for 50% reimbursement of their booth, travel, and other expenses through SUSTA’s CostShare program. "Without SUSTA, we would not have considered promoting our beef jerky internationally because of how daunting it could be. SUSTA's resources, including the 50% Cost Share program, encouraged us to expand to international markets and the support from SUSTA has been excellent. Being in the USA Pavilion at Gulfood with other U.S. manufacturers was a real boost as buyers from multiple countries came to our booth, buyers we may have never met without the support of SUSTA encouraging small business to promote their products for export," said Michael Hocklander, CEO. “We learned that building relationships is a cornerstone of doing business in the Middle East, so we are headed back to the show in 2022. We are excited about our future as a small business exporting to the world.” It is a big world out there, full of consumers. SUSTA’s mission is to make sure that southern U.S. agricultural producers, like Caribe, have the opportunity and resources to compete for those consumers.
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