At the start of a new year, USW wants to share a glimpse of just a few recent activities with our customers.
Taiwan. USW was invited to participate in a Christmas bakery products promotion held by the Taipei Bakers Association and Taipei city government in the city square. USW Asian Products/Nutrition Technologist Sophia Yang served as a judge to pick the top three bakery products based on flavor, nutritional value and appeal. More than 1,000 consumers watched the event in person.
Korea. USW conducted its annual crop quality seminar in Seoul for 36 customers from the Korean milling industry. In addition to sharing new crop production and quality data, USW led a discussion on misperceptions of wheat nutrition and safety in the face of unsubstantiated health claims designed to sell books.
Japan. USW Country Director Wataru Utsunomiya made a presentation on world and U.S. wheat crop quality and supply and demand to the annual Osaka Flour Millers Association “Wheat Seminar.” The event also provided an opportunity to meet individually with many of the 20 flour millers who attended.
China. USW Country Director Andy Zhao, Beijing, and Dr. Gary Hou, technical director and Asian foods specialist with the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC), Portland, OR, made follow-up visits to bakery processors in several eastern China provinces that participated in an Artisan Bread Production course at WMC in August. The project goal is to help these bakers understand the value of higher protein flour made from U.S. wheat and, in turn, help them meet growing consumer demand for bakery products.
Philippines. USW expressed its thanks to customers including the Davao Bakers Club and the Filipino-Chinese Bakery Association for collaborating with several flour millers to carry out a “Bread Aid” campaign benefitting thousands of families made homeless by Typhoon Pablo in December. Mills donated flour that bakers used to produce and donate 10,000 pieces of monay bread and collected cash donations to supply mineral water to storm victims.
Myanmar. The Myanmar milling industry is slowly expanding to meet increasing demand for a variety of baked goods. USW Bakery Consultant Roy Chung traveled there recently to conduct in-house training for milling employees and teach baking classes to help the millers and bakers address some of the challenges must confront to succeed.
Guadeloupe. USW Regional Vice President Mitch Skalicky and USW Assistant Regional Director Chad Weigand recently attended the 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Caribbean Millers' Association (CMA) to participate and discuss current U.S. wheat quality and market trends. USW consultant Mike Krueger, President, The Money Farm of Fargo, ND, was on the program covering the global wheat market situation.
Peru. USW Assistant Regional Director Osvaldo Seco and Baking Consultant Didier Rosada conducted seminars to demonstrate sponge-and-dough baking techniques using flour from U.S. HRW and blends with SW or SRW. They demonstrated how bakers can maintain or improve their product quality while reducing cost. The Peruvian Millers Committee supported the seminars, held at The National Industrial Training Institute (SENATI) in Lima.
European Union. USW Marketing Specialist Rutger Koekoek attended the respected “Global Grain 2012” annual conference in Geneva, Switzerland. More than 1,000 delegates from 50 countries participated in the conference to consider such subjects as global commodity price trends, macroeconomic drivers of commodity markets and obstacles to trading in the Black Sea region. Koekoek was able to meet with many of the delegates.
Morocco. USW has long supported the educational mission of IFIM, the Moroccan Milling School, in part by providing samples of U.S. wheat. Since October, USW has delivered samples of SRW, Desert Durum® and hard red spring (HRS) to IFIM. USW staff, including Regional Technical Director Peter Lloyd, will work with IFIM staff and students to mill the wheat and test bake the flour in popular Moroccan bakery products.
South Africa. Representatives of a large South African food company that sent employees to a USW-sponsored tortilla production course at AIB International, Manhattan, KS, in October visited the USW office in Cape Town to share their experience. Tortillas represent an emerging market in South Africa.
Souce : uswheat.org