By Peter Vlazakis
Marketing, technical, and trade policy specialists who carry out the American Peanut Council’s export promotion work around the globe met Feb. 18-19 in Rome for the organization’s annual International Contractors’ Meeting. The event provided an opportunity for APC staff, contractors and industry representatives to collaborate and discuss key objectives and strategies for increasing exports in target markets.
Participants included contractors from Canada, China, Europe, Germany, Japan, Mexico and the U.K., along with U.S. representatives, including APC Export Committee Chair and Texas grower Jeff Roper; Export Committee Vice Chair and Golden Peanut Senior Sales Manager Lupe de Lira; National Peanut Board President and CEO Ryan Lepicier; NPB Vice President of Marketing and Communications Dena Malsom; and The Peanut Institute Research Director Dr. Samara Sterling.
The two-day meeting included presentations highlighting achievements and identifying challenges from the previous year, as well as a preview of plans for 2025. In addition, strategy sessions on best practices for setting goals, monitoring performance and developing collaborative assets were held to assist contractors in their efforts to build demand for U.S. peanuts.
“Coming together with our international marketing partners is a great opportunity for collaboration since we all have the same goal of promoting U.S.-grown peanuts. I learned a lot from my colleagues and appreciated the time together to grow our relationships,” Lepicier said.
The event helps kick off APC’s annual development of the industry’s comprehensive Unified Export Strategy. This document is reviewed and approved by the APC Export Committee before being submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service to request funding for export promotion programs.
In 2024, the U.S. exported 26% of its peanut crop, with an export value of $884 million.