Hmong Farmers Working To Tap Into Export Markets

Lemon grass, yuchoy, daikon, and bok choy may not top the list of U.S. farm exports yet, but Hmong farmers in California are gearing up to move more of these vegetable products into foreign markets.

While strawberries and cherry tomatoes make up a large portion of the Hmong farm output in California, they also grow up to 100 varieties of Asian vegetables. These include green beans, long beans, eggplant, bitter melon, bok choy, gia choy, daikon, dunqua, gailon, lemon grass, lo bok, napa, yuchoy, bobo and sugar and sweet peas.

About 20 percent of Hmong vegetable production is currently exported. That's not enough to suit Hmong farm leaders in California, who have been working on export development with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA). In June, several Hmong representatives headed to Vancouver, Canada, to scope out the Canadian market and to provide potential importers with information on their farm produce.

On the trip, Hmong farmer representatives met with retail, food service and wholesale executives and with officials from Agriculture Canada, the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Customs Canada.

The group learned about the needs of the Canadian market, which holds considerable potential for their products, touring wholesale and retail markets that specialize in Asian produce. They visited several retail buyers to make important trade contacts and to learn first-hand what Canadian consumers are looking for.

The trade mission included representatives of Southeast Asian farmers in the Stockton area and Mien farmers in the Fresno area; the California Highlander Cooperative, Inc.; the Hmong American Community Association; Hmong National Development in Washington, DC; the University of California and Fresno County Cooperative Extension; WUSATA; and FAS.

Who Are the Hmong?

The Hmong are Southeast Asian mountain people who worked closely with the United States during the war in Vietnam. After the end of the war in 1975, singled out by the communists for revenge for their role in aiding the United States, thousands of Hmong escaped from Laos; many settled in the United States. There are now approximately 350,000 Hmong in the United States: more than 85,000 in Central California, 75,000 in Minnesota and Wisconsin and smaller concentrations in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Michigan.

A Fresno representative of Wells Fargo Bank, which is evaluating Hmong business potential, joined the group in Canada. As part of a community development project, Wells Fargo is designing a funding package for the Hmong and hopes to form partnerships with government, industry and non-profit groups in this effort.

The trip had three basic objectives. Team members wanted to learn more about market conditions and requirements for Asian vegetables in the Western British Columbia market; make buyers aware of their ability to consistently supply high-quality produce to the market; and establish trade contacts for future sales.

A viable target market for Hmong produce awaited them in Vancouver; the Chinese community there represents an estimated 11 percent of the population and the South Asian community represents an additional 5 percent of the city's population. Overall, Canada's Chinese community is estimated at 900,000, and people of South Asian background number about the same.

In Canada, the B.C. Produce Marketing Association shared brass-tacks information with the Hmong team on transportation, pricing, public services and a described national campaign encouraging Canadian consumers to eat five to 10 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables daily.

A Canadian Food Inspection Agency official briefed the group on packaging, labeling, grading, licensing, arbitration and inspection of U.S. produce. Key topics of discussion: the importance of working with reliable importers and shipper responsibilities following a sale.

The Hmong also received a crash course in Canadian customs requirements and North American Free Trade Agreement provisions.

"Despite the sheer bulk of the information provided, nothing turned up to deter our mission members from pursuing this market," Peter Lawrence of WUSATA said.

Visits to several retail stores afforded the Hmong farmers a first-hand look at product presentation, quality, prices, variety and volume.

"We were encouraged to see a number of California products on the shelves already," Lawrence said.

The trip was an encouraging experience for the export initiates. "My general impression is positive," Toulu Thao, executive director of the Hmong American Community Association in Fresno, said. "The import requirements are feasible; the Hmong can deliver the variety and quality of products now appearing in Vancouver's retail stores; and the demand for our products is real and sizable.

"We've learned a lot. Now we know how to get into exporting to Canada. We still have a lot of homework to do on our products, packaging, pre-packaging, and licensing. But by the spring of 1998 we hope to be ready to ship," Thao said.

"Our Hmong farmers need to continue to improve their production efficiencies in order to be price-competitive," Thao added. "We need to differentiate our products, meet customer needs and create product identity."

Lawrence expressed confidence. "I think that once Hmong farmers have the capacity to quote, pack, ship and sell independently, there will be substantial export opportunities for their products in Western Canada," he said.

In early 1997, FAS began working with the Hmong farm community to help them analyze the potential for their produce in export markets. In May, the California Hmong participated in the U.S. Food Export Showcase in Chicago, sponsored by FAS and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). The Food Export Showcase is a lively part of the largest annual food show in the United States--the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) show. There the Hmong exhibited Southeast Asian specialty produce such as bok choy, yuchoy, lemon grass, daikon, sugar peas and squash in a booth that attracted considerable buyer interest and resulted in important follow-up leads. FAS also has joined with other USDA agencies including the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development Mission Area and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service to participate in export seminars for Hmong farmers in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The author is with the FAS AgExport Services Division. Tel.: (202) 205-7785; Fax: (202) 690-0193; E-mail: Bowles@fas.usda.gov