            
|
- Winter 1996 "Update" Newsletter Article -
Survey team hopes to spur exports
Recommendations to be developed to help processors strengthen foothold in world market
From CATI Publication #960101
Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.
The position of the United States as a world leader of value- added exports has been slipping steadily in recent years with the increase of exports by other countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa.
In the area of processed food products this trend has been even more pronounced, to where today, "changes in world economics and competition have created a negative balance of trade in these products for the U.S.," state a pair of agricultural economics researchers from California State University Fresno.
But there is hope of reversing the trend, and part of it is based on a research project being conducted by the researchers, professors John Hagen and Juan Batista. In a study supported jointly by the California Agricultural Technology Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the pair are seeking to develop recommendations which will help the processed food industry expand its exports.
"Exporting manufactured food products seems to be done primarily by the larger processing firms," Hagen and Batista state.
Some industry leaders surmise the smaller processors - those that tend to specialize in the production of a limited line of products - avoid exporting because they lack familiarity with the international markets. "These firms are foregoing tremendous opportunities because export markets like the specialty products small firms manufacture," the authors add.
In the first phase of their project, Hagen and Batista are developing a profile of California food processing firms. Through a special survey, data are being collected on production, export sales, exports as a percentage of total production, major markets overseas, distribution of firms by size, amount of "reefer" cargo, ports used to export cargo, and packaging issues.
"This survey will generate data that can be used to compare the knowledge and attitudes of exporters and non-exporters regarding a range of barriers to exporting," the authors state.
Based on the survey results, interviews with exporters, and an analysis of trade data, recommendations will be developed to address major barriers to exporting. The recommendations will come through educational and training seminars conducted by CATI's Center for Agricultural Business (CAB). Other forms of aid will include technical assistance, market reports, and expanded use of computerized information.
The authors believe there still is a strong potential for exporting processed foods from California and the U.S., especially to Latin America. For more information on the project, the authors may be contacted through the Department of Agricultural Economics at (559) 278-2949.
{ page top }
{ CATI , CAB , CAB - Current Projects , CAB - "Update" Newsletter , "Update" Newsletter - 1996 }
Copyright © 2000. All rights reserved.
CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE - CATI
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
California State University, Fresno