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Gretha Rodriguez travelled from Panama City to Saskatoon to discover new products to bring back to the supermarket shelves in her country.
“We are looking for raw materials for our production facilities as well as retail products for our chain of supermarkets in Panama,” said Rodriguez, a raw materials purchase manager with Riba Smith Group.
Rodriguez is one of dozens of international buyers meeting with local agricultural producers at the province’s first global agricultural commodity showcase, an event designed to build new export opportunities and hosted by the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP).
For Rodriguez, meeting Saskatchewan producers in person has introduced her to products that could find a potential market back home.
“Yesterday we met a company that produced camelina oil, and it’s a very interesting product for us,” she said. “It’s a different product for our customers in Panama.”
The event is a first for the non-profit organization focused on increasing export activity in Saskatchewan, pairing suppliers in the province with international buyers looking to source everything from bulk agricultural commodities to value-added food products.
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Chris Lane, president and CEO of STEP, said the event is about creating long-term business relationships even if agreements are not reached immediately.
“There are a lot of ways to measure success here, really,” he said. “Even if a deal isn’t signed in the room, the relationship that works towards a deal is a success, because we are in this for the long game.”
Officials from 14 countries are in attendance, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, seeking suppliers for a variety of commodities, such as grains, pulses, oilseeds and animal feed products.
Over the three-day event, buyers will meet with suppliers, tour facilities and farms, and learn about the export opportunities in the province, said Lane, adding that it boosts buyers’ confidence by helping them understand where the products they purchase come from.
“This is unique in that it was a concerted global recruitment effort to make sure that the work was done to really qualify the kind of buyers from wherever they are in the world and match them very specifically with Saskatchewan suppliers that meet their needs,” he said.
Among those hoping to strengthen business ties was Mansoor Ali, CEO of Pakistani edible oil company Dalda. He said speaking directly with producers could help make importing products like canola more efficient by reducing the need for intermediaries.
“It’s very important to come and talk to people who actually do the work, understand how they can make it more efficient, and understand how we can use their learnings and bring it to the shelf for the consumers,” Ali said.
The showcase comes as the province — and more broadly, Canada — continues its push to diversify export markets. Last month, the provincial government reported that exports to markets outside of its three largest trading partners, which are made up of the United States, India and China, grew by 27.1 per cent last year.
Saskatchewan is currently focusing its efforts on regions with growing economies and populations, including the Middle East, said Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan’s trade and export development minister.
“It’s so much easier to be able to grow and market into a growing economy than to try and outcompete or bump somebody out of that place,” he said.
Kaeding says a trade mission to the Middle East is among the opportunities the province is exploring moving forward, calling it a “growing area.”
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