For more information:  

                                                                                    Doyle Marchant, President

                                                                                    Stephanie Cheney

                                                                                    Cedar Spring Agricultural Co.

                                                                                    Yarmouth, ME

                                                                                    Tel  207-829-6006

                                                                                    Fax 207-829-6066

                                                                                   

 

News Release

 

For Immediate Release

 

MAINE POTATO GROWERS RETURN FROM SECOND TRIP TO CUBA

WITH OPTIMISM ABOUT FUTURE SALES

 

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine, March 11, 2005—A team of Maine potato growers and dealers have just completed a second sales mission to Cuba.   The leader of the team, Joe Lallande, President & CEO of Maine Potato Growers, Inc. (MPG), said that the purpose of the trip was to continue building on the progress of the first visit by Maine growers to Cuba in December of last year.  That 2004 delegation, led by Doyle Marchant, President of Cedar Spring Agricultural Co. LLC, and Maine Commissioner of Agriculture Robert W. Spear, also included representatives of the apple, dairy cattle, and maple syrup industries in Maine.

 

Lallande saidsaidsaid, “We had a very productive trip and we are very encouraged by the potential this market represents for Maine potato growers.”   The team visited potato fields in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas and Cienfuegos, all major production areas, and met with key officials of Alimport, the Cuban food import agency.  Don Flannery, Executive Director  of the Maine Potato Board has been working closely on this export project.  “I am enthusiastic about this new market potential for Maine potatoes, and our board members have appropriated funding to support further development of this market,” Flannery said.

 

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Potatoes in Cuba

 

Maine is currently negotiating an initial sale to Cuba of 1,000 metric tons of seed and an unspecified quantity of tablestock potatoes for shipment in November of this year.  Lallande stated that the potential for future transactions is much greater.  Cuba imports 30,000 to 36,000 metric tons of seed each year—Canada currently supplies two-thirds of the total and the balance of Cuba’s requirements are currently supplied by European seed producers.  “Maine has an outstanding reputation in the marketplace as producers of quality seed which provides us with the competitive advantage to leverage a larger share of the Cuban seed market going forward,” said Lallande.  

 

The Maine team and Alimport also agreed on the next steps necessary to conclude a sale.  A Cuban technical team plans to visit  with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (APHIS) in July to harmonize Cuba’s phytosanitary requirements with U.S. standards. At the same time, Cuba will send a team to visit Maine potato growers to observe crop production and inspect the sheds where the product will be packed for export to Cuba. 

 

Seth Bradstreet, Jim Crane, Keith Labrie and Tom Qualey representing Maine potato growers and Joe Lallande of MPG and Todd Bradley of MFX, representing Maine potato dealers, made this trip to Cuba under the U.S. Treasury license of Doyle Marchant.  Travel expenses were underwritten by t Marchant is developing this market in Cuba exclusively for Maine producers and growers of agricultural products.

 

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