Representatives from the Ohio Soybean Council, in collaboration with the U.S. Soybean Export Council, embarked on a brief tour in Asia last month to promote Ohio’s food grade and non-GMO soybeans in-person once again post COVID-19.
Madi Layman, manager of demand and market development, and Bill Bayliss, OSC vice chair and Logan County soybean farmer, attended the U.S. Food Bean Buyers Conference in Seoul, South Korea and the Southeast Asia Soy Excellence and Food Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on April 20 and April 25, respectively.
Layman has been apart of the Ohio Soybean Council since 2021, but her new position, which she took up in September of 2022, has brought her to Asia for the first time. Bayliss, however, is a veteran to abroad trips such as this. He has been attending conferences in South Korea and Thailand for 10 years now. Layman said it was experienced people like Bayliss that made her first trip to Asia much smoother than others.
The two shared similar sentiments of attending in-person events and being able to forge genuine connection with buyers. Buyers, they said, are always interested in how the crops are doing, if it was a good year and how transportation will be handled to get to their respective countries.
Asia is one of the largest soybean exports for the United States. Ohio ships 60% of its soybeans to Asia, reported Bayliss, and 50% of that 60% goes to China. While soybeans are used here domestically, the use of the soybean in Asian countries spans centuries, Layman and Bayliss shared. It comes to no surprise that the state of U.S. soy is a topic of interest for international buyers.
Soy is serious business in Asia, from the quality of the bean, its texture, to even its flavor. Bayliss shared that different areas prefer different tastes in soybeans. Some like a ‘beanier’ flavor in their soy milk, while others prefer a sweeter taste. It’s kind of like how Americans prefer different coffee beans, he compared. Thus, international conferences like these are good to analyze the trends and see what buyers want in U.S. soybeans.
Bayliss gave a presentation in Seoul on his 50-year farm operation. He shared photos of his farm, family and how the average U.S. farm operates. He said creating personable connections like this is what buyers like to see.
“The reason they send me there is they like to see the ‘family farmer,’” Bayliss said. “They read a lot of reports about humongous factory farms. ... We’re trying to share with them that we are very sustainable and we are concerned about the environment and the food quality.”
Sustainability was a topic that was brought up at the conference, said Layman.
Source: crescent-news.com
Photo Credit: Ohio Soybean Association
Categories: Ohio, Crops, Soybeans