Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Russia and Syria are reportedly about to cooperate on a wheat hub in the latter country for the Middle Eastern wheat import markets. This project will mean an expansion of ports there with added grain storage and transshipment facilities along with improved domestic railway and road links. Cairo Poultry, one of Egypt’s largest integrated poultry companies, reports that profits are down almost 68 percent in the first nine months of 2018 despite higher sales of just over 6 percent during the same period. There was no published comment on the reason for the decline in profits. Turkey, the UAE and India (among others) have been granted waivers by the U.S. that will allow those countr...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.