Hess Brothers Fruit Company is a member of the U.S. Apple Export Council (USAEC), a participant in the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Market Access Program (MAP) and Emerging Markets Program (EMP). Hess credits his export success to USAEC and to MAP and EMP, which, he said, “opened up the markets, made other countries aware that we have apples in Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan, that we met their standards and are competitive.”

Fred Hess: The benefit of working with USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

During the September 2009 to August 2010 crop year – Hess Brothers’ first year of sales to India – the company sold more than 50 containers of apples, worth about $900,000. This new market opportunity comes at a critical time, as Eastern apple growers expand their production.

“Total production has increased by 30 percent,” Hess explained. “We are moving to high density plantings of new improved varieties. Yields are close to doubling as we move to smaller trees that produce a crop in 3 years. Traditional trees took 5-7 years to produce a crop. New export markets make a big difference in keeping prices up and we are not at the top of our production yet.”

New markets aren’t developed over night. Kris Marceca, the International Marketing Director of the USAEC, credits USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). “The strategic planning pushed by FAS encouraged us to diversify markets. Our initial research identified 10 potential markets. This effort led to an Emerging Markets Program project in India, Russia, Brazil and Southeast Asia in 2007-2008. That project further identified the potential for our apples in India and led us to hire an in-country representative,” Marceca said.

In the fall of 2009, USAEC used MAP to bring an Indian retailers and buyers mission to the U.S. to visit apple-producing areas and attend the Produce Marketing Association’s annual trade show. USAEC also plans to bring a team of Indian, Russian and Southeast Asian importers to visit growing areas and meet suppliers as it presses forward in these important new markets.

Fred Hess has been able to benefit from these activities and grow his business. “Exporting is an everyday part of our company’s business plan, and it wasn’t always that way,” he said.

The USAEC is a trade association representing 11 apple-producing states – California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia – which account for nearly 40 percent of total U.S. apple production. USAEC members collaborate to generically promote apples grown in these states in foreign markets.