Some Wyoming businesses are starting to introduce their products into the market of Taiwan, thanks in part to assistance from the Wyoming Business Council.
The Council is offering small businesses across the state a chance to make connections with Taiwan, where demand for American products is high.
Amy Quick, the northwest regional director for the WBC, said the council also tries to help businesses prepare for the challenges they might face when learning how to export products.
She added the focus on Taiwan is the direct result of a visit to the country by former Gov. Matt Mead, who saw Idaho beef listed on a restaurant menu.
“And he said ‘Why isn’t there Wyoming beef on the menu?’” Quick said. “So it was really a big effort of the governor’s office and the Wyoming Business Council to make that happen.”
One of the first companies to make the connection with consumers in Taiwan is Murraymere Farms, a Powell ranch that raises all of the beef it ships.
Val Murray of Murraymere said she is working to increase the exports of Wyoming beef so more Wyoming producers will have a chance to enter the market.
“We’re sending a very small portion over,” she said. “So we’re trying to find a margin there to help other producers in Wyoming so we can get a bigger market. We have all kinds of importers wanting Wyoming beef.”
Another Wyoming product making its way to Taiwan is coffee produced by Cody Coffee Roasters.
Jesse Renfors, the company’s owner and operator, said the process has been more involved than he expected.
“There’s a lot of schedules to try to mesh to figure this all out,” he said. “We’ve got to do some packaging changes, stuff like that, to appeal to that Asian market.”
Renfors praised the Wyoming Business Council for the help it has provided his company as it has grown.
“The support that we get from the Wyoming Business Council is epic,” he said. “It definitely helps us out a lot. We’re always looking for answers and I roast coffee, I don’t have those answers. And they’ve been a great resources to really lean on to help us grow so exponentially.”
