Dutch Farms, located in Chicago, Illinois, in the 2nd Congressional District, participated in the Food Export-Midwest-sponsored 2009 Midwest Buyers Mission where they had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with international buyers and made a first-time export sale to Beijing, China. According to Mike Belica, Vice President of New Business Development, “As a direct result of the Midwest Buyers Mission we landed an initial test shipment of 2,500 pounds of our cheese products valued at $2,700. We anticipate this sale to become a monthly shipment of 40,000 pounds of our products valued at $100,000.” The company also made a new buyer contact in Mexico that could help them break into the region with a line of private label products. “Buyers Missions are a very cost effective way for us to meet new foreign buyers right here in the U.S.” added Belica.

Dutch Farms Inc., established in 1929, is a distributor of refrigerated dairy, deli, bakery, and meat 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.