USDA and sugar have been married since 1934. With such an old marriage, there are all manner of promises, obligations and compromises. There are disagreements and arguments, and occasional calls for divorce, but they lack real conviction. We outsiders find it all so difficult to understand. The marriage also produced an unexpected offspring with an ugly name, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). By keeping domestic sugar prices above world prices, U.S. sugar policy helped create a powerful incentive for food manufacturers to find a cheaper sweetener. American corn refiners were happy to oblige. USDA’s sugar program is notoriously complicated, with government intervention at almost every level of the value chain. USDA supports sugar prices...
From WPI Consulting
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.