| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Angelyn
DeYoung Sarah Goan |
| February 25, 2005 | (406) 444-0511 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
(EDITORS: Two photographs for use with this release are available from the department website at agr.mt.gov/news/natural.jpg and agr.mt.gov/news/fancy.jpg. Captions are at end.)
Montana Agriculture Companies Show Well at National Trade Events
HELENA, Mont. — Montana value-added agriculture companies anticipate more than $800,000 in sales during the next 12 months as a result of exhibiting for the first time at one of the largest wholesale trade shows in the United States.
Earlier this week, 13 Montana companies participated in the Montana Department of Agriculture's pavilion of booths in the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.
Exhibitors said they made more than 100 buyer contacts during the three-day trade show and expect sales during the coming year to total approximately $805,000. All of the participants anticipate sales to new markets, and several expect new distributorships.
Retail consolidation has made it difficult for small businesses in Montana to contact buyers and get their products into stores, says Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture. National trade shows give Montana companies the exposure needed to expand into national and international markets.
Melvin Brown, owner of Amaltheia Dairy in Belgrade, said that participating in the Montana pavilion at the Natural Products Expo West was worth the time and expense. He stated, "What a great opportunity. It speaks well of Montana's help to promote business."
Participants in the Montana pavilion included Amaltheia Dairy, Belgrade; Bee Silk, St. Ignatius; Bequet Confections, Bozeman; Cream of the West, LLC, Harlowton; Montana Coffee Traders, Kalispell; Montana Emu Ranch Co., Kalispell; Montana Legend Brand Meats, Red Lodge; Montana Milling, Great Falls; Montana Specialty Mills, Great Falls; Mountain View Naturals, Three Forks; Sugar Loaf Wool Carding Mill, Hall; Whoopup Creek Luffas, Glendive; and Yellowstone Bees, Big Timber.
Buyers came from throughout the United States, from West Virginia to Hawaii. International buyers were from markets including Canada, El Salvador, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Chile, Mexico, France and Hong Kong. Buyers represented such recognizable companies as Associated Food Stores, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Costco Wholesale, Safeway, Wild Oats and Whole Foods Market.
The Montana Department of Agriculture also sponsored a pavilion of booths in the Winter Fancy Food Show, hosting 14 Montana agricultural companies and their products in late January. Exhibitors at the food show expect to garner approximately $566,000 from more than 880 buyer contacts from the United States and international markets.
Participants in the show included Big Sky Brewing Company, Missoula; Cream of the West, LLC, Harlowton; Lewis & Clark Brewing Co., Helena; Martinson's Ranch Chocolates of Montana LLC, Huntley; Montana Bounty Foods, Kalispell; Montana Coffee Traders, Kalispell; Montana Monster Munchies, Bozeman; Montana Mountain Smoke, Inc., Montana City; Montana Tamale Company, Colstrip; Montana Tom's, Kalispell; Mountain Lake Fisheries, Whitefish; Orchard at Flathead Lake, Big Fork; Rocky Mountain Roasting, Bozeman; and Wild Bee Honey, Pony.
For more information about the Montana pavilions
at the Natural Products Expo West or Winter Fancy
Food Show, contact Angelyn DeYoung or Sarah Goan
at the department's Ag Marketing & Business
Development Bureau at (406) 444-2402 or by email
at mailto:agr@mt.gov.
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agr.mt.gov/news/natural.jpg
Buyers from throughout the United States and international
markets visited the Montana pavilion at the Natural
Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. (From
left to right: Terry Taylor and Derek Kampfe, Montana
Legend Brand Meats, Red Lodge; Sue and Melvin Brown,
Amaltheia Dairy, Belgrade; Robin Bequet and an associate,
Bequet Confections, Bozeman.)
agr.mt.gov/news/fancy.jpg
In the Montana pavilion at the Winter Fancy Food
Show in San Francisco in January 2005, 14 Montana
companies met with buyers from throughout the United
States and international markets. (From left to
right: Cathy and Rich Powell, Montana Monster Munchies,
Bozeman; Hal Berg, Rocky Mountain Roasting, Bozeman.)
