OTA’s Export Promotion Program, now dubbed U.S. Organic Worldwide, was awarded record-high USDA funding totaling $1,389,393 for calendar year 2016. The award is split between two grant programs: $889,393 for the Market Access Program (MAP), and $500,000 for Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC).

Global sales of organic food reached $80 billion in 2014, with the U.S. the largest organic market, according to findings in The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics & Emerging Trends 2016 unveiled during BioFach in February by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and IFOAM—Organics International.

OTA was proud to take part in the World’s Fair in Milan, Italy, during October. The theme of this year’s international exposition was “Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life,” exploring the huge task of finding a balance between meeting the nutritional needs of the global population and respecting the planet.

OTA co-hosted an all organic BBQ at the U.S. Consular General Allen Greenberg’s residence in Kobe, Japan. A first of its kind, the luncheon brought together key industry players and thought leaders from Japan’s growing organic industry. Monique Marez, OTA’s Associate Director for International Trade, and Melody Meyer, a member of OTA Board of Directors, led an information session and discussion on U.S. trends, and ways to import more USDA certified products.

Swiss consumers purchase more organic products per capita than any other consumer population in the world. They are the fourth largest market for organic products in the world after the United States, Canada, and the European Union and responsible for 3 percent of global purchases of organic in 2014. Now, U.S. organic farmers have streamlined access to this active market through an organic equivalency arrangement.

Exports of U.S. organic foods as well as imports of organic products into the United States have risen significantly in the past few years. But, by how much? And, for which products? OTA’s international department sought to answer those questions with a landmark study on the trade flow of organic food products across the borders of the United States. This watershed report compiles, for the first time ever, a comprehensive picture of the officially tracked organic food products sold by U.S. exporters and bought by U.S. importers. The work reveals that a robust global appetite for organic food has created new lucrative markets from Mexico City all the way to Hong Kong for U.S. organic producers—but also provides strong evidence that American farmers are losing out on some valuable opportunities by not growing more organic.