Specialty Grains action team setting direction, fostering connections

By Dave Miller, specialty grains consultant

In the past three months, the Specialty Grains action team has taken a two-fold approach to adding value to Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) members.

First, the action team continues to refine its strategic approach. With more than 20 different specialty crops, driving insights about the combination of crops and markets that represent the greatest opportunity has been a focus for the team.

And, while that important work is taking place, the team is already reaching out to industry associations representing the needs of potential customers to foster relationships.

Recently, the Specialty Grains action team met with the Whole Grains Council (WGC) and the American Society of Baking Executives (ASBE) to explore collaboration opportunities. While the WGC is largely a consumer-focused organization dedicated to the inclusion of more whole grains in consumer diets, its membership is rich with companies that either are or should be customers of SSGA member companies. In meeting with the WGC, it became clear that traceability is important to many of their member companies as they look to continue to add value to their consumer base. In the near future, SSGA will author a blog post on the WGC website about the importance of traceability to WGC members. The organizations will also look to partner on future trade events.

The introduction to ASBE served as an initial entry point to the vast domestic and international baking industry. ASBE represents companies involved in wholesale and in-store baked goods and is the host of the annual BakeryTech trade show. The action team is currently evaluating attendance of that show among several others. While many members of ASBE may be more commodity driven, a portion of its membership is highly focused on specialty, value-added products perfect for the ingredients created by SSGA. The meeting also pointed SSGA to another trade organization highly focused on specialty products, the Bread Bakers Guild of America.

At the same time as these outreach efforts are taking place, the action team is refining its approach to representing the needs of specialty grain members. That includes evaluation of market demand potential by grain and country, as well as building an event attendance plan, highlighting trade shows and conferences that focus on customer channels and markets and where SSGA will appear to network on behalf of members.