Emerging Global Food Markets…Opportunities and Challenges for Oregon
The last 20 years have witnessed the unprecedented rise of supermarkets not just in the developed world but also in emerging markets. This together with the globalization of the food chain has transformed traditional agricultural and food export opportunities.
Concentration and modernization of supermarkets and agricultural markets generally is now a global phenomenon with tremendous ramifications for Oregon’s processors, wholesalers, and farmers. Oregon’s agricultural and food sectors now literally face a challenge and opportunity of global proportion. How we respond to these developments may largely define the strength and future of Oregon agriculture and our rural communities.
You are invited to what promises to be a stimulating, brainstorming talk by Dr. Tom Reardon of Michigan State University’s Department of Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics. He will explore world trends and suggest strategies on how Oregon can emerge as a global “winner” in the dynamic new world market.
Prof. Tom Reardon is a leading global expert on the growth and modernization of food markets in the Emerging Market countries of Asia and Latin America. This includes the rapid rise of supermarkets, large processing, modernized wholesale, and the rise of an urban consumer market that adds 1 billion new middle class customers to the ranks of potential US exporters’ customers. He has devoted 25 years to studying the food markets of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, traveling extensively, having just returned from a year in Asia. This year he participated in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland; served on an agricultural expert panel for the Chicago Council for Global Affairs; and was just named to the WEF Global Agenda Council on Food Security.
10:00-11:30 AM, Friday,
11 Sept., 2009
World Trade Center Portland,
Building Two, 121 SW Salmon St.,
Portland, Oregon Conference Center auditorium