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NDTO News Article

NDTO to Host Second ‘Better for You Food Ingredients’ Event in China

Fourteen North Dakota companies and organizations will travel to Qingdao, Shandong, China, March 18-22, to showcase the state’s high-quality agricultural commodities and food products to some of the China’s largest food manufacturers and processors.

The 2014 China – North Dakota ‘Better for You Food Ingredients’ event is organized by the North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO) with support from the North Dakota Department of Commerce and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.  The event includes a conference and exhibition designed to further introduce North Dakota’s high-quality food ingredients to the Chinese food manufacturing market. Crop specialists will give presentations to Chinese buyers, R&D specialists and food manufacturers while chefs prepare Chinese dishes made with North Dakota ingredients including: flax, sunflowers, barley, wheat, flour, pasta, soybeans, peas, lentils and dry edible beans.

Through trade missions and other exchange efforts, North Dakota continues to develop lasting business and cultural ties that benefit China and our state.  The 2014 event will be North Dakota’s first official event in our Sister State of Shandong Province.  North Dakota Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley and Shandong Provincial Vice Gov. Xia Geng signed this agreement on Feb. 21, 2014, to help strengthen the economic and social ties in the areas of agriculture, aviation, education, energy and technology between North Dakota and Shandong.  The ‘Better for You Food Ingredients’ conference and exhibition is a demonstration of the commitment to this agreement and is strongly supported by the government of Shandong.

The agenda for the China-North Dakota ‘Better for You Food Ingredients’ conference on Thursday, March 20, is as follows:

Morning

  • Introduction of North Dakota Agriculture
    • Paul Lucy, North Dakota Department of Commerce
  • Welcome Speech by Chinese Guest Speaker 1
    • Mr. Bian Zhenhu, President of China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce (CFNA)
  • Welcome Speech by Chinese Guest Speaker 2
    • Ms. Zhang Liping, National Course Cereals Engineering Research Center
  • Introduction of North Dakota Companies and Exhibitors
    • Paul Lucy, North Dakota Department of Commerce
  • Northern Crops Institute Presentation
    • Introduction of NCI
    • ND Better for You Food Ingredients – Overview of ND Production, Quality, Processing and Shipping
    • Pricing and Procurement of ND Grains & Crops

Noon

  • Chinese Chefs to prepare noon meal containing North Dakota Healthy Ingredients
  • Networking Luncheon

Afternoon

  • Conference and Simultaneous Exhibition of North Dakota Products
  • Presentation topics include:
    • Wheat, Barley and Pasta – presented by NCI
    • Peas and Beans – presented by NCI
    • Sunflower Seeds and Flaxseeds – presented by NCI
    • Food Grade IP Soybeans – presented by Dr. Sam K. C. Change, Head of Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University

Companies and organizations participating in the trade mission include:

  • Great Northern Ag, Plaza, ND
  • Healthy Oilseeds, Carrington, ND
  • JB Global, Barnesville, MN
  • North Dakota Department of Agriculture
  • North Dakota Department of Commerce
  • North Dakota Mill, Grand Forks, ND
  • North Dakota State University
  • North Dakota Trade Office
  • Northern Crops Institute
  • Red River Commodities, Fargo, ND
  • Richland Organics, Inc., Wahpeton, ND
  • Soyko, Inc., Gary, MN
  • Specialty Commodities, Inc., Fargo, ND
  • Sun Opta, Moorhead, MN

Organizations assisting in the development and support of this event include the Northern Pulse Growers Association, Northern Food Grade Soybean Association, the Northarvest Bean Growers Association and the USDA Foreign Ag Service (FAS).