September 2-5, DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski led a mission to São Paulo, Brazil, to promote Wisconsin food products to one of the largest markets in Latin America. Wisconsin cheese, pickles, potato chips, barbecue sauce and cheese sauce were featured in a tailgate promotion event hosted by the U.S. Embassy in connection with a National Football League (NFL) American Football game. The Secretary and staff also had a full agenda of meetings with officials from the Brazilian dairy producing states of Santa Catarina and São Paulo, food retailers, a dairy producer, meat processors, and livestock researchers. The Secretary and the companies traveling on the mission made presentations to two key food retailers.
At the tailgate event, Croix Valley Foods Co-Founder and grill master Damon Holter grilled U.S. beef, chicken, and salmon, featuring Croix Valley barbecue sauces. In addition, Colleen Francis shared Master Gallery cheeses. Agropur and Sartori cheeses were also featured, as well as Van Holten's Pickles, Jackson's Potato Chips, and Ghel Cheese Sauce. Wisconsin Beef Council, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Cranberry Association, Ginseng Board of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association were featured on the Wisconsin stand, promoting the diversity of the state's food products to the food retail, food service, and food industry buyers.