Upcoming Events:

April 2010 Vista Trade Group Mission to Cuba
     Vista Trade Group is organizing Ohio's first agricultural mission to Cuba for a select group of food and agricultural representatives from the state to pursue export opportunities with Alimport, the Cuban agency responsible for all U.S. imports. The trip is scheduled for April 19-23, 2010 starting and ending in Miami, FL. The overall goal of the trip is to promote and market a variety of Ohio agricultural commodities to Alimport for ultimate sale and delivery to Cuba.
     Despite the U.S. embargo of Cuba, U.S. exports of food and agricultural products to Cuba have been allowed since 2000 under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act. Since 2002, the U.S. has been the largest supplier of food and agricultural products to Cuba. Cuba is a significant export market for U.S. soybean oil, corn, wheat, soybeans and poultry products. Cuba's thriving tourism industry provides opportunities for high value and processed foods. Even with the current regulatory difficulties, U.S. food and agricultural exports to Cuba totaled well over $700 million in 2008. With very recent changes in export financing, there is immediate potential for an increase in this value.
     Ohio is the 13th largest exporter of food and agricultural products among U.S. states. The time has come for Ohio to garner a share of the Cuban market. During the past few months Vista Trade Group has engaged in meetings with Cuban officials, as well as numerous stakeholders in Ohio's food and agricultural sector. As a result of our efforts, we believe that there is great potential for Ohio companies in the Cuba market. Tim Sword, International Trade Specialist for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, will be participating in our mission.
     Vista Trade Group will hold a meeting for those interested in learning more about the Cuban market, Vista Trade Group and the April 2010 trip to Cuba. The meeting will be hosted by the Ohio Department of Agriculture at its offices in Columbus on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm. Additionally, Vista Trade Group would be happy to schedule a meeting at your convenience to discuss what specific opportunities might exist for your company, and to answer any questions or address any concerns you might have.

     Please direct all questions or comments to:
     Darcy Hartman, President
     Vista Trade Group
     614-935-5277
     dhartman@vistatradegroup.com

Past Events:

Havana, Cuba February 2005
     Vista Trade Group held its February event and exhibited over 70 products from over 30 companies. The 3-day event was very successful, resulting in orders and commitments from Alimport to purchase a significant amount of products from over 10 different companies. The major Cuban firms servicing the retail and foodservice sectors attended the event. Significant knowledge was gained not only by the Cuban firms, but also by Vista Trade Group and its clients as to the opportunities and possibilites offered by the Cuban market and by the US providers.

Alimport's US-Cuba Trade Round - Dec. 2004
     As the third anniversary of the first American commercial shipment to Cuba neared, Alimport was pleased to invite the members of the US agribusiness, port, and transportation communities to visit Cuba and review the achievements, opportunities and challenges of the Cuba-US trade December 15-19, 2004.
     The occasion was also used to enter into mutually beneficial supply contracts designed to meet part of Cuba’s food and agricultural commodity demand for the first half of 2005. Subject to competitive terms, the participating firms stood the best chance of being awarded important contracts. Over $100 million worth of supply agreements were negotiated and signed during this event.
     Since the resumption of the existing one-one and cash-only Cuba-US trade, Alimport has signed more than $1 billion worth of contracts and made timely cash payments of $925 million to its American providers.