Fiberstar, headquartered in Willmar, Minnesota, in the 7th Congressional District, used Food Export-Midwest's Branded Program to help offset the cost of participating in the 2008 Gulfood tradeshow in Dubai, UAE. According to Nick Kovalenko, Director of International Marketing, "Thanks to cost-share assistance through the Branded Program, we were able to participate in many international tradeshows." Through contacts made at the Gulfood show, as well as through the technical assistance provided to the distributors in the area, in the first quarter of 2009 they received an order from a buyer in Turkey for $20,000 and another order from a buyer in Jordan for $50,000. The company also used Branded Program funds to market their food ingredients that naturally enhance food freshness and nutrition to Russia. After several months of close work with the Russian distributor and extensive product exposure through joint advertising, early in 2009 they landed their first-time export sale to Russia for $50,000. To keep pace with increased demand for their products, Fiberstar moved to a larger facility in 2008 and recently hired two new employees.

Fiberstar produces an all-natural functional food ingredient made from citrus pulp, called Citri-Fi®. Their product is specially suited for adding moistness, controlling moisture migration, improving yields and reducing the cost of a wide variety of food products.

Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast are private, non-profit associations of Midwestern and Northeastern state agricultural promotion agencies that use federal, state, and industry resources to promote the export of Midwestern and Northeastern food and agricultural products. Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast administer many services through Market Access Program (MAP) funding from the USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.