Food exporters urged to target US

THAI FOOD exporters and small and medium-sized enterprises are being encouraged to penetrate the United States market, in particular with healthy and vegan food, as the US economy shows sign of recovery, a Thai Trade officer has advised.

Somdet Susomboon, Thai trade officer in New York, said the US economy has clearly edged up during the past year with stronger economic growth, lower unemployment and rising purchasing power.

“Food and health will be the first things that American people will invest in after recovering their purchasing power. Thai food producers and exporters, thus, should study demand of this market, as many Americans now have high concerns about healthy food and vegan food,” he said.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook in July, found that the US economy was on a recovery trend. It is projected that its economy will grow by 2.5 per cent this year and expand by 3 per cent next year.

Somdet pointed out that food products that are in high demand among American consumers are vegetarian foods or vegan food, gluten-free food, lactos-free, and non-allergic food.

He said Americans, American-Asians, and Hispanic groups had charged their behaviour to cook at home since economic growth slowed down. 

Moreover, with health concerns, American consumers have realised that home cooked-food is better for their health rather than fast food. So, they have carefully selected food ingredients and tried to cook more at home. 

As Thailand is one of the world’s major food suppliers, food producers and exporters should focus on consumers’ demand for food ingredients that serve what US consumers want.

Channels that Somdet advised Thai food suppliers to use to reach American consumers were food supermarkets and Thai restaurants. American consumers liked to visit the latter because Thai food is known as healthy, low-fat food. 

Supermarkets that are good distribution channels for Thai food ingredients were Whole Foods Market, which is the America’s largest chain for healthy food. This supermarket group has more than 400 branches around the states and total revenue of US$14.19 billion last year. To contract this supermarket, Somdet suggested visiting www.wholefoodmarket.com. 

Trader Joe’s was another potential outlet for Thai food and ingredients. It has more than 450 branches nationwide, which focus on healthy food and organic products. Last year, it had $11.3 billion in turnover. 

To seek trading opportunities, Thai enterprises can visit www.traderjoes.com.

According to an Organic Trade Association survey last year, the value of organic products in the US was worth $39 billion, up 11.3 per cent from 2013.