Press Releases

September 14, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, LA – In its third media tour this year, the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) will bring a group of Japanese journalists to Florida and Georgia to sample the flavors of the south. SUSTA, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service in Japan have teamed up to bring key media to the southern U.S. to promote the variety of high-value food products from the region.

The group of food trade journalists includes representatives from several Japanese magazines and newspapers: Ms. Yutsuko Sekigawa, Editor in Chief of Travel Life, a travel and lifestyle magazine; Editor in Chief Mr. Hirozumi Ito of cooking and food magazine Prost!; Mr. Kazuhide Satake with Sankei Shimbun daily newspaper; and Mr. Kaoru Maruya, a freelance food columnist for books and magazines. "These are leading opinion makers reaching tens of thousands in Japan's food and culinary trade, and we're excited to show them firsthand the wide array of products available from the southern U.S.," said Jerry Hingle, SUSTA's Executive Director. "We're sure that the message they bring home will have long-term positive effects on our industry's image and export sales."

On September 20, the journalists kick off their visit in Georgia, where they will tour a pecan farm and learn about peanut growing from a local producer. The opportunity to meet former President Jimmy Carter at a reception will be another highlight of the visit. The tour will move to Florida on September 23, with a visit to Johnson & Wales University's Culinary School, followed by tours of an alligator processing facility and a fish processor and wholesaler. While in Miami, SUSTA representatives will also take the Japanese delegation to a farmer's market and the Fresh Market store in Coconut Grove, featured in the Bravo! Network series "Top Chef." Miami celebrity Chef Allen will host a dinner for the journalists at his restaurant and discuss products and food trends in Florida and the southern United States. Before leaving the U.S., the group will travel to Orlando to visit a grapefruit orchard and packinghouse.

SUSTA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the unique food and agricultural products of the southern U.S. to international markets and fostering exports from the region. SUSTA makes contact with key media and industry influencers, keeping the Southern region visible while planning promotions of regional products in Japan and throughout the world.

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