While the U.S. has taken the first step in satisfying customer needs in the Middle East by growing dairy product sales from 2 percent to 13 percent over the past decade, more can be done to foster future sales. That includes becoming a consistent, steady supplier of dairy products that fit into the culture and traditions of customers in the Middle East and North Africa.
Those were key messages gleaned from interactions during the recent U.S. Dairy Export (USDEC) trade mission to the Middle East in November. But don't take our word for it . . . watch and listen to comments from Jim Reid (shown left) and Ray Prock, Jr. Both are members of the Dairy Management, Inc., (DMI) board of directors which guides the nation's dairy checkoff. Reid is a Jeddo, Mich., dairy producer, while Prock hails from Denair, Calif. They were two of four dairy farmers who represented the U.S. delegation. The group also included fellow DMI board members Glen Easter of Laurens, S.C., and Larry Shover of Delhi, Iowa.
While the Middle East market can be somewhat price sensitive, it also can be extremely brand loyal once product recognition takes hold. Among the nearly 140 U.S. Dairy Business Conference attendees from 10 countries across the region, it was clear that they wanted U.S. dairy products but desired more face time with potential business partners. Discussion during an interactive five-person panel discussion also centered on the fact the U.S. and Middle East need to move away from spot-seller and spot-buyer relationships that have long prevailed to that of steady buyer and seller. That sentiment reached both ways as the audience chuckled at a comment from a Middle East panelist. And in a region that imports 90 percent of its food and is home to some of the world's largest desalination plants to create fresh water, the dairy market potential is near limitless.
Editor's note: This is the second article in an five-part Hoard's Dairyman Intel series discussing the growing Middle East market. Dubai is home to the world's ninth-largest shipping port. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the imports into Dubai, the business hub of the Middle East, are food items. Next to grain and rice, dairy is the next largest food import.
Click here to watch the November 11 Hoard's Dairyman Intel video: Middle East hungry for dairy products.
