Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and 18 Idaho companies and organizations visited Mexico and Peru this month in hopes of expanding business relationships and creating new opportunities in Latin America.
The eight-day trade mission included stops in Lima, Peru, and Mexico City, Mexico.
“We had the best of the best of Idaho companies and organizations traveling with us, and the warm welcome and interest we received in Peru and Mexico reflected the innovative products and services we were promoting,” Otter said in a news release. “Relationships and friendships were established in both countries, and I am confident this will lead to continued opportunities for all of the trade mission participants.”
The trade mission, which took place from May 9-16, included vegetable seed, potato, onion, dairy product, natural and organic food, wheat, oilseed, mining equipment, personal-care product, timber, technology, medical equipment, raw-materials mining and university research/international education industries, according to the news release.
Two American Falls businesses participated in the trade mission: AMS, Inc., which sells equipment for environmental sampling and remediation needs, and Mountain States Oilseeds, which produces and markets grains and oilseeds.
Tyler Moore, chief financial officer for AMS, said they already have customers in both Mexico and Peru, but the trade mission gave them an opportunity to meet with some more potential distributors and honor the achievements of existing ones.
While the trade mission gives them a chance to increase sales, which benefits Southeast Idaho and the U.S., it also helps Mexico and Peru by providing access to the equipment they need to address environmental hazards, he said.
“It’s a win-win for all parties involved,” Moore said, adding that an Idaho Department of Commerce grant helped AMS to be able to go on the mission.
Jason Godfrey, president of Mountain States Oilseeds, said they received a lot of support from the state and federal government when it came to setting up appointments where they were able to meet with potential customers and talk about their business and products.
“The main benefit of these missions is the access to high-level people in each company,” he said. “They like having a representative like the governor come and they also like to see us. It is important to have face-to-face meetings to start business.”
Godfrey said Mountain States Oilseeds wanted to gain more markets in Mexico, where they currently do business, and Peru, which offered some new opportunities.
“We see a continued demand in Idaho for growing oilseed crops — mustard, flax and safflower. Because of this, we have to continue to find new markets for these crops,” he said, adding that he feels there are some great opportunities in Latin America.
Idaho’s exports to Peru totaled more than $17 million in 2014, according to the news release, which adds that this was Otter’s first trade mission to that country. The state’s exports to Mexico were valued at more than $301 million.
Celia Gould, director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, feels the recent trade mission could help improve those numbers.
“In both countries, we made excellent contacts that we are confident will lead to sales. We identified some new opportunities in Peru and are excited about the potential there for Idaho agriculture,” she said in the news release. “Mexico is already an important agricultural market for Idaho but continues to grow. It was our number-two agriculture export market last year, and I anticipate that it could become number one in 2015.”
Hess Pumice, a white pumice mining and processing operation in Malad, also participated in the trade mission, according to the news release.