Agribusiness joins State of Idaho in reaching out to Mexico – Catalog gives Idaho firms foot in the door at Expo Agro-Sinaloa

John Rice, chief financial officer of Hansen-Rice Inc., a Nampa-based manufacturer of commercial and industrial buildings for the agricultural industry, says it was an easy decision to participate in Mexico´s largest trade show.

Especially when the Idaho Department of Commerce came calling with a proposal that would allow the company to tout its wares at Expo Agro-Sinaloa 2004, which gets underway today in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, for an investment of $75.

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For that amount, Hansen-Rice and 15 other agriculture-related companies based in Idaho get an ad in a catalog that staffers from the Department of Commerce, the Idaho-Mexico Trade Office, the Idaho Farm Bureau and the Idaho Bean Commission will use at the trade show to talk up the benefits of doing business with each company.

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Idaho companies represented at Mexico´s largest agricultural trade show this week include Trinity Trailer Manufacturing Inc., Unisun and Western Trailers, Boise; Industrial Ventilation and Hansen-Rice Inc., Nampa; Milestone Equipment and Spudnik Equipment Co. LLC, Blackfoot; Pickett Equipment and Cooper Equipment, Burley; Acme Manufacturing Co. Inc., Filer; Watts Manufacturing, Jerome; Meyer Industries, Midvale; Parma Co. and Specialized Manufacturing Co., Parma; Interstate Manufacturing, Rupert; and Charmac Trailer, Twin Falls.

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The idea is to get the attention of some of the 10,000 potential customers from 24 countries that will be taking in Expo Agro-Sinaloa. The show lasts until Saturday.

The Idaho Bean Commission, a state agency funded by growers and dealers, will be going down to promote seed and edible beans produced primarily in the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley, said commission administrator Diana Caldwell.

The staff members will hopefully bring back potential business leads that the companies can use to either break into, or increase their share of, the Mexican agricultural market — all without having to pay to send an employee to the Culiacan show.

“It´s a great deal, and an easy decision for us to make,” Rice said. “We´re not risking a lot for a possible big reward.”

It will be the first time that the State Department of Commerce has participated in Expo Agro-Sinaloa, which will feature some 368 booths and up to 500 exhibitors.

”Mexico has a huge agricultural industry and has a great proximity to Idaho,” said Department of Commerce spokeswomen Stephanie Camarillo. “And it´s consistently one of Idaho´s top 10 trading partners.

“The strategy is to get to the show, represent Idaho companies and bring back trade leads. It´s a great way for companies to test the market without having to go there.”

The Mexico trade mission is patterned after a similar trip Idaho state officials made to a builders´ trade show in China in September 2003. That jaunt resulted in $500,000 worth of business for Idaho companies and brought several Chinese businessmen to Idaho to meet with local manufacturers of wood and building materials, Camarillo said.

Rice said Hansen-Rice wants to interest the Mexican farming industry in its patented Air Envelope System for a potato storage building. With potatoes stored in high humidity, the technology creates an environment where condensation is eliminated, thereby preventing free water from causing the potatoes to rot.

Another participant, Spudnik Equipment Co. LLC of Blackfoot, already has seen its´ potato harvesting, planting and handling equipment introduced into several markets outside the U.S. — including Mexico — by American companies who use them in their international operations.

“We can provide equipment from planting to harvest,” said Spudnik international salesman Dennis Marlow. Its participation in Expo Agro-Sinaloa has an additional purpose, however.

“We don´t want to be left out, so we want to keep our name in front of our customers at all times,” Marlow said. “We want them to know that we´re still interested in their business.”