Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2010)
Page 8 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 Oregon agricultural products promoted to Hong Kong buyers Fresh blueberries, Dunge- ness crab, and a variety of wine from Oregon and Wash- ington enjoyed three weeks in the spotlight this summer as part of a targeted in-store pro- motion at one of Hong Kong’s largest retail grocery chains. While the buying power of seven million consumers is important to Pacific Northwest agricultural exports, Hong Kong’s status as a gateway to the rest of China makes it even more strategic, according to Patrick Mayer, international trade manager with the Ore- gon Dept. of Agriculture (ODA). “With the amount of wealth, and growth now tak- ing place on the mainland, Hong Kong is a very impor- tant market for us,” he said. “It’s what I call a global crossroads market,” he noted, “because of the influence, power, and economy of Hong Kong. Not only does it affect China and the rest of Asia, it really sits on a world stage.” With that in mind, ODA and the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture organized the three-week July promotion in Hong Kong’s Park n’ Shop stores – a chain of some 250 outlets – and recruited 15 Pa- cific Northwest companies to participate. Besides the wine, crab, and blueberries, products included snack foods, cereal products, and specialty foods. The two states complemented each other well and successfully reinforced the region’s reputation for high- quality, good-tasting products, Mayer stated. “We haven’t really tar- geted Hong Kong as one of our key markets before even though we have displayed products there in the past,” he said. “This foray into Park n’ Shop focuses on retail prod- ucts. The wine, blueberries, and Dungeness crab are retail products with quality charac- teristics that provide some great opportunities for us in that part of the world.” The early reports indicate that the promotion was quite successful. Sales data is not available, and it often takes time before the true effect of a promotion is really felt. But retail buyers and the consum- ers that visited the promotion came away impressed. Much of the value of this kind of promotion has to do with in- troducing Oregon and Wash- ington to consumers. “There is a strong public relations component to this,” said Mayer. “Getting the Ore- gon name out there in front of consumers – even if it’s just a few items like wine, blueber- ries, and Dungeness crab – helps raise Oregon’s profile.” News media in Hong Kong made sure the Park n’ Shop promotion of Pacific Northwest products came with a big splash. Extensive press coverage of the key Oregon products, combined with di- rect mail materials to consum- ers, garnered a great deal of attention. Once consumers came to the stores, product sampling and in-store cooking demonstrations featuring the products created an even big- ger buzz. Of all the featured prod- ucts, Oregon wine may have received the best reception. “The export market for Oregon wine continues to grow, and to have Park n’ Shop step up and feature our products is exciting,” ex- plained Doyle Hinman, export director for Henry Estate Win- ery and owner of Five H Wines of Eugene. “Hong Kong is a very important market for us,” he said. “I feel strongly about the opportunities that afford Ore- gon wines in the Asian mar- ket. Hong Kong is a gateway to China. We are using that gateway right now. Henry Estate and Five H have been positioning its wines in Shang- hai, and that effort is coming from our presence in Hong Kong. Any place we can open up more markets is a boon to Oregon’s wine industry.” Besides Henry Estate and Five H, Willamette Valley Vineyards and Evergreen Vineyards were displayed in the Park n’ Shop stores. Hong Kong abolished all import duty and taxes on wine in 2008, making it an even more desirable export market for Pacific Northwest wine. In May, as part of a governor’s trade mission to Asia, ODA Director Katy Coba signed a Memorandum of Understand- ing (MOU) with the Hong Kong government to promote the sale of Oregon and Wash- ington wines into and through the Hong Kong market. Although wine sales channels in Hong Kong have been established for years, the MOU encourages even more promotional activities with hopes that it will lead to greater opportunities for addi- tional Pacific Northwest agri- cultural products. “Currently, most of the Dungeness crab in Hong Kong arrives via British Co- lumbia,” said Nick Furman, administrator of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Say you saw it in the Illinois Valley News “We want to pursue a direct link from Oregon to Hong Kong with product that has the Oregon identity. Hong Kong is a first class outlet for our type of product.” Last fall, Coba and Dan Newhouse, her counterpart from Washington, led a joint trade mission to Asia that in- cluded a stop in Hong Kong. The visit led to discussions with an executive chef for Park n’ Shop, who already had an affinity for Pacific Northwest foods. “He wanted to get prod- ucts from Oregon and Wash- ington into the store,” said Amanda Welker, another ODA international trade man- ager who helped organize the promotion. “We asked compa- nies if they were interested, and we were able to get a good mix of products featured in these higher end stores. There will be more opportunities to do some targeted promotions in the near future.” Those opportunities are likely to once again feature a partnership between Oregon and Washington state. “There is value in taking a regional approach,” noted Welker. “You will see more of an effort to work together in these markets. “In some cases, we grow the same commodities, and in other cases we produce com- plementary items. Quite often, we can do more together for producers and companies in our states than we can do alone.” ODA’s role in these kinds of promotions is primarily being a matchmaker – bringing buyer and seller together. With the possibility of penetrating the fast-growing southern Chi- nese export market, the com- panies that brought product to Park n’ Shop are hoping it can be a match made in heaven. State revenue forecast ... (Continued from page 1) est indebted states in Amer- ica,” Richardson wrote. Former governor John Kitzhaber, a Democrat who is campaigning for his old job, issued a statement Aug. 26 regarding the revenue forecast. “It is a critical time for many Oregonians, as we are at the low point in resources and at the high point of need,” Kitzhaber said. “However, this only under- scores the need for the next governor to be able to bring all stakeholders to the table to fundamentally reform how the state delivers and pays for the services most important to Oregon families.” In an Aug. 26 press re- lease, House Republican Leader Bruce Hanna (R- Roseburg) stated that the Legislature “can no longer avoid making tough decisions on state finances.” “The bottom line is that Oregon’s budget can’t sustain its level of spending today, tomorrow or into the future,” Hanna said. “We need to fix the current budget, and the next Legislature should be prepared to work with a new governor to reform our budg- eting process and bring our state spending under control.” An Aug. 26 release from the Senate Republican office included renewed calls for an emergency session of the Oregon Legislature. It also suggested that one option for budget reductions should be removing $7 million in gen- eral fund revenue from the Dept. of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). “Any functions DLCD is no longer able to afford would fall to counties which have a vested interest in the local economy,” the release states, adding that Republi- cans in the Legislature cur- rently are putting together a plan to balance the state budget without across the board cuts. Medical marijuana measures (Continued from page 1) hind,” Sajo said. Measure 74 would create two new categories of li- censes, if passed into law. One set would be for non- profit dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to quali- fied patients. The other would be for individuals or non- profit organizations to grow and sell the substance to the dispensaries. Sajo said that the dispen- saries would be in competi- tion with each other, which would result in lower prices and higher quality medicine for patients. Measure 74 also would generate revenue to fund other functions in the state health department, he said. “We are adding regula- tion to the system,” Sajo said. “Really, what we are doing is replacing prohibition with regulation.” The best way to eliminate marijuana grows on federal land is to have a regulated system where patients can obtain their medicine through legitimate channels, Sajo said. For more information, visit voterpower.org or regu- latemedicalmarijuana.org.
