Media Advisory: Commissioner Whitcomb to recognize emerging Maine food exporter

October 2, 2014

For more information contact: John Bott at: 207-287-3156

The Commissioner will highlight the efforts of Gelato Fiasco to increase Maine exports to international markets

Brunswick ? Commissioner Walt Whitcomb will present the Commissioner?s Leadership Award to Gelato Fiasco as an emerging Maine food exporter during a visit to their Flagship Store in Brunswick this Friday, October 3. This recognition follows the 10-state regional acknowledgment Gelato Fiasco recently received from Food Export USA-Northeast at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture?s Annual Meeting in Burlington, Vermont. Food Export USA-Northeast assists hundreds of small companies with marketing food and agricultural products overseas.

?Gelato Fiasco is an outstanding example of a small Maine company successfully using Food Export?s professional staff to identify international markets for their products, establish relationships and increase exports,? said Commissioner Walt Whitcomb. ?Governor LePage has made selling more Maine products abroad a top priority of his administration. I am pleased to be able to recognize Gelato Fiasco for their courage in entering the rigorous international marketplace.?

Commissioner Whitcomb will present the award to Gelato Fiasco at their Flagship Store in Brunswick (74 Maine Street), this Friday, October 3, at 11:00 a.m.

Commissioner Walt Whitcomb is Chairman of Food Export USA-Northeast, a private, non-profit international trade organization that works with smaller and medium sized producers throughout the Northeast to promote export of food and agricultural products. Food Export USA-Northeast has played an important role in promoting and increasing export of several Maine products. Gelato Fiasco was recently featured at one of their meetings as an example of a highly successful Maine producer that partnered with Food Export USA.

Gelato Fiasco

Gelato Fiasco is a Maine producer of gelato and sorbetto flavors that are house-made daily in small batches for specialty and retail. The company uses only Maine milk to produce its products. Since its establishment in 2007, the company has grown steadily; it now serves at its two stores in Brunswick and Portland, and creates gelato in pints for sale at grocery and specialty stores in 35 states. It has been featured in Bon Appetit, Country Living, the Boston Globe, and Fortune, and its founders were honored as Empact100 young entrepreneurs at the White House. In 2013, through its partnership with Food Export USA-Northeast, the company made connections in the Caribbean, Brazil and Chile that will result in future export sales.

Food Export USA-Northeast

Food Export USA - Northeast is a non-profit organization that promotes the export of food and agricultural products from the northeast region of the United States. The organization has been helping exporters of northeast food and agricultural products sell their products overseas since 1973, when it was first created as a cooperative effort between 10 northeastern state agricultural promotion agencies and the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

Food Export-Northeast, in conjunction with its member states, provides a wide range of services to facilitate trade between local food suppliers and importers around the world. These services include: export promotion, customized export assistance, and a cost-share funding program.

Food Export-Northeast is one of four State Regional Trade Groups (SRTG's) that assists companies with export promotion. Three other regional groups, Food Export Association of the Midwest USA, SUSTA and WUSATA provide similar services for companies based or sourcing product from outside of the Food Export-Northeast 10-state region.

More information on Food Export-Northeast can be found at: https://www.foodexport.org/