Australian food and beverage producers are being encouraged to join an “invasion” of the United States in a drive to get aboard the world’s biggest food marketplace.

Austrade’s Washington-based food and beverage specialist, Peter Brennan, is at this week’s Fine Foods Australia event in Sydney to seek out businesses interested in exhibiting at major US trade shows.

He said the US market is valued at more than US$1 trillion (A$1.15 trillion) a year.

“Fine Food is a good platform to gain exhibiting experience for those looking to enter key overseas markets. This experience augurs well for successful participation in the 33rd Winter Fancy Food Show and the 89th National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show held in January and May 2008 respectively,” he added.

“By tapping into the world’s largest importer of processed food, the local food sector can generate more business and income by exporting their products to the US, which imports around 11% of its consumption needs. The natural and organic food market alone is estimated to be worth in excess of US$10 billion (A$11.5 billion) a year.


“In 2006 the top five Australian food exports to the United States were: meat US$1.59billion (A$1.84 billion); wine US$864 million (A$997.6 million); dairy US$139million (A$160.5 million); seafood US$112 million (A$129.3 million) and horticulture US$60 million (A$69.27 million) which comprised mainly citrus and macadamias,” Brennan said.

Winter Fancy Foods 2008 in San Diego is the largest specialty food trade show in the US, while the NRA show is the largest food service and hospitality event in the Western Hemisphere. This year’s event attracted 2,140 exhibitors from 110 countries and nearly 74,000 visitors attended the event.