US Dry Bean Monthly Newsletter Publication

Volume VI | Issue IX | September 23, 2020

Monthly News & Update

French White Bean Cassoulet

Bean Bulletin

Filming of 2020 Harvest Underway,

Webinars to Follow

Filming at Green Valley Bean in Minnesota

As bean harvest is in full swing this week and our growers are busier than ever, we have been capturing footage of the action so we can use it to tell our story and communicate critical production and quality information with international buyers and other key audiences. When the global pandemic eliminated the opportunity for our traditional reverse trade mission, we pivoted and partnered with teams from FLM Harvest and Torchwerks to travel around the Midwest shooting footage of all aspects of dry bean harvest and processing across North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan and Nebraska.

Shoots and interviews included growers, processors and dealers in each state, showing what is promising to be a great 2020 harvest and again telling the story of the U.S. being a consistent and reliable supplier of high-quality dry beans. The content captured will be used for webinars

with international buyers as well as a 2020 dry bean harvest video. We look forward to sharing the final video with you later this fall.

Filming the Engstrom family at processing facility in North Dakota

USDBC and North Hill Group

Collaborate on MRL Pilot Project in Vietnam

USDBC has signed an agreement with the North Hill Group (NHG) to create a template for addressing current and future issues related to changes in global crop protection policies that could limit market access for dry beans. Specifically NHG will look at how the movement to enforce zero or very low tolerance in the form of an MRL (maximum residue level) on the use of pesticides/herbicides in Vietnam could have a negative impact on our ability to export to this market. Vietnam is not the only country notifying zero or low tolerance MRLs but this initiative will serve as a template for us to expand this work to other parts of the world.

Specifically this project will; study the current crop protection usage and trends by US dry bean producers, look at recent changes to crop protection policies in Vietnam and the political, scientific, and technical drivers of these policies, changes to MRL testing protocols, potential MRL changes in other Southeast Asian countries, imminent threats and likely scenarios and advocacy options. The ultimate goal is to ensure that tolerances on crop protection products are based on sound science and that we can get back to a harmonized approach, reliant on CODEX, to prevent market disruption. NHG is a boutique consulting firm specializing in global market access, government and regulatory affairs for food and agricultural sectors. We will be sharing project progress.

Southeast Asia Campaign Wins

Best in Category Communications Award

#U.S. Pulses: Super-clean Superfood”, was just awarded the best Not-for-Profit and Charity Communications Campaign in Southeast Asia by The Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA). This campaign was created and managed for the U.S. Dry Bean Council by Paper & Page Co. Ltd., Thailand, with strong support from AgriSource Co. Ltd., the local USDBC representative. PRCA is the world’s largest professional PR body, with PRCA Southeast Asia based in Singapore.

“PRCA Southeast Asia Awards 2020” recognize excellence in creativity, evaluation, execution, originality, research, and strategy – their “best non-for-profit and charity campaign” category “will recognize work by/or on behalf of charities, voluntary, and not-for-profit organizations.”

The U.S. Pulses campaign encompassed a website (www.pulses.asia) and Facebook pages in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

In 2019, the Campaign was successful in:

Driving a +516.26% increase in traffic to https://pulses.asia vs. 2018
Growing social media audiences beyond 60,000 (60,819) fans across six Southeast Asia markets by Dec 31, 2019 (now 100,000+)
Increasing social media engagement +33.6% in the Philippines, +15.5% in Thailand, and +101.5% in Vietnam
Reaching 1,081,077 people in our target audiences through paid content.

The main content posted included educational information on U.S. dry Beans, health information, recipes, and recipe videos

Pulses Asia Campaign

US Dry Bean Exports

to the Americas Reach New Heights

It’s been good year for US dry bean exports to the Americas due to a combination of strong demand and trade agreements that provide preferential market access.

In the first eleven months of MY 2019/20, 41,787 MT of US dry beans were exported to the Dominican Republic; more than in each of the past ten marketing years, slightly above the 2015/16 MY record.

From September 2019 through July 2020, the US exported 12,146 MT of dry beans to Costa Rica, about three times the amount exported in each of the past 3 marketing years and the highest level in a decade.

From September 2019 through July 2020, the US exported more beans to El Salvador (6,236 MT) than it has in each of the past ten marketing years, exceeding the 4,767 MT marketing year high that was reached in 2018/19.

Get To Know Our Global Reps – AMERICAS

Alejandro Leloir

Alejandro Leloir joined the U.S. Dry Bean Council on May 1, 2019, as the Regional Representative for Central, South America, and the Caribbean. Alejandro received his agriculture engineering degree from Buenos Aires University in 2013. For two years, he was Production Manager at a large farming operation in Uruguay, responsible for 2500 hectares of corn, soybean, and wheat production, including the supervision of multiple work teams. Most recently, he was the International Pulses Purchaser for the largest pulse importer in Costa Rica, where he was responsible for market analysis and reporting and global pulse purchases originating from North, Central, and South America, and China. As part of his work, he traveled to origin countries to visit the growing regions and assess the dry bean quality and production.