Making a sale takes a click of a button, but maintaining a market as large and long-lasting as Japan requires decades of shared commitment between U.S. wheat farmers and Japanese customers. Two trade missions this summer exemplify the success of these continued efforts – one bringing Japanese millers to the United States and the other taking the newly installed leadership of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) to Japan as their first official trade visit.
“Our relationship with Japan is more than commercial, it is a deep-seated partnership built on decades of trust,” said USW President and CEO Mike Spier. “Through these reciprocal trade missions, we actively demonstrate our commitment to being a reliable supplier of high-quality wheat and continuing to reaffirm the personal connections that are essential to doing business in this large and loyal market.”
From Kitchens on Wheels to Trade Titan
The relationship between U.S. wheat farmers and Japanese customers predates USW’s start as an organization, dating back to a trade delegation organized by the Oregon Wheat Growers League (OWGL) in 1949 to explore opportunities to expand U.S. wheat sales to Japan. In 1956, the OWGL opened an office in Tokyo to share information about wheat foods, which led to additional farmer organizations joining the effort and the establishment of the Western Wheat Associates. In 1980, Western Wheat Associates merged with Great Plains Wheat to form U.S. Wheat Associates.
Market activities then focused on promoting the nutritional value of wheat foods, such as the “Kitchens on Wheels” initiative, which traveled through rural Japan to promote wheat foods to Japanese customers, and the introduction of bread to Japanese school lunch programs.
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