ABC Attends Largest International Food Event
Richard Waycott, president and CEO, Almond Board of California, meets with Ted McKinney, undersecretary for trade, USDA, at the Gulfood opening ceremony.
Last February, staff from Almond Board of California (ABC) represented the almond community on an international scale at the largest food event in the world, Gulfood. ABC’s Richard Waycott, president and CEO; Julie Adams, vice president, Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs; and Sudarshan Mazumdar, India consultant, were in attendance.
Held at the Dubai World Trade Center, Gulfood boasts nearly 5,000 exhibitors and over 97,000 attendees from 185 countries. In fact, this trade-centric conference requires one million square feet of exhibition space, space that is jam-packed with exhibitors and bursting with activity throughout all five days of the event. The Almond Board hosted a booth and was one of 167 exhibitors in the USDA pavilion.
With access to a massive audience captive to the latest in global food and trends, Waycott, Adams and Mazumdar had the unique opportunity to meet with traders from the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, where there is a growing interest in California almonds. The Almond Board received multiple inquiries from individuals interested in the almond industry and shared the latest on almonds’ nutritional value, food safety practices and market development activities. In addition, ABC shared the technical aspects of almonds (standards, grades, varieties, etc.) with Gulfood attendees. Several almond industry members exhibited at the conference, as well.
Waycott and Mazumdar speak with a Gulfood attendee about the California almond industry.
Waycott, Adams and Mazumdar also met with key government authorities, including Dubai Municipality, and attended a function with USDA Undersecretary for Trade Ted McKinney, who later visited the Almond Board booth. And, earlier in the month, ABC visited the U.S. Embassy in India to meet with Deputy Chief of Mission MaryKay Carlson, among other officials. During their visit, the group discussed the future of U.S. and India trade. This topic is of particular interest to ABC, as California almonds are the largest agricultural export from the U.S. to India with 2017/18 YTD at 154,268,882 pounds, up 29% from 2016/17 YTD.
