State delegation ready to promote agricultural products to island nation

By ALAN WECHSLER, Business writer, Times-Union
Saturday, April 19, 2008

ALBANY -- A group of New York farmers and agricultural experts are heading to Cuba next week to look for business opportunities.

The trip, which leaves Monday from Miami, is sponsored by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The 19-member delegation will spend three days in the Caribbean nation, meeting with business representatives from various specialties. It will culminate in a dinner for Cuban agriculture officials and business owners, where only New York state products will be served.

Department spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden said $350 million in farm products was sold to Cuba last year. Little, if any, came from New York state.

The United States put an economic embargo on business with the country in 1962, three years after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. But beginning in October 2000, U.S. companies were allowed to sell agricultural, food and medical products to the country.

Since then, Cuba has purchased $2.7 billion worth of products from the United States. More than 150 companies from more than 35 states have sold 300 different products to Cuba, officials say.

Imported food is important to Cuba's 11 million residents and the estimated 2 million tourists who visit the island each year, New York state officials say.

State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker will lead the delegation.

"Cuba relies heavily on U.S. imports and has expressed a keen interest in New York food and agricultural products," he said. "This trade mission will allow for face-to-face meetings with Cuban buyers and will give our producers another market opportunity."

Local members of the delegation include Empire State Forest Products in Rensselaer, which represents the timber industry; New York Apple Sales in Castleton, a distributor; and Black Horse Farm Inc. in Coxsackie, which grows vegetables.

"We do business in south Florida," said Lloyd Zimmermann, owner of Black Horse. "It just seemed like it would fit in with the business plan."

Zimmermann said he will spend nearly $3,000 to join the trip. Now 72, he remembers well the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. At the time, he was an agricultural consultant for the state's Civil Defense Administration, and the idea of keeping food free from radioactive fallout was something that was much on his mind.

Today, with longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro no longer in control and a change in the U.S. administration coming next year, there is renewed optimism of improved relations.

Zimmermann hopes it translates into new business opportunities for his farm. "Things are changing," he said. "There seems to be quite a bit of interest in agricultural imports."

Alan Wechsler can be reached at 454-5469 or by e-mail at awechsler@timesunion.com.