Elizabeth C. Ward
President and CEO
USA Rice Federation
Betsy Ward was appointed President and CEO of the USA Rice Federation in May of 2007. From 2003-2005, Betsy was the Vice President of International and Domestic Promotion at the USA Rice Federation where she was in charge of developing and implementing USA Rice’s domestic and international promotion and food aid programs. In 2005, Betsy moved to the chief executive spot at the Hardwood Federation, a trade association representing over 15,000 hardwood producers across the United States. Betsy began her career in the forest products industry in 1986. She served as the Executive Director of the American Hardwood Export Council – and from 1995 to 2003, she ran Wood Products International at the American Forest & Paper Association. There she directed and implemented the trade policy and global forestry program for all international wood issues.
The U.S. rice industry has been continuously promoting U.S. rice in Japan since 1989.
It is my great pleasure to bring warm greetings to everyone in Japan on behalf of the USA Rice Federation.
The U.S. rice industry has been continuously promoting U.S. rice in Japan since 1989. In the course of that twenty year span, Japan has become the U.S. rice industry’s number one export market in terms of value and number two in terms of volume. We have come a long way together with Japanese consumers who were initially very resistant to the idea of eating imported rice.
The Japanese rice market was partially opened in 1995 as required by Japan’s entry into the World Trade Organization. In partnership with the Foreign Agricultural Service, the U.S. industry initially promoted the U.S. grown Koshihikari and Akitakomachi short grain varieties to establish a high quality image for U.S. rice. More recently, we have been showcasing U.S. medium grain rice which accounts for most of the U.S. rice imported by Japan.
Today, many Japanese consumers view the U.S. rice on their store shelves or in foodservice outlets as an expansion of their choices and not a threat to domestic rice. USA Rice’s current promotion activity in Japan encourages this understanding by positioning U.S. rice medium grain as specialty rice especially suitable for certain dishes rather than a direct substitute for domestic Japanese varieties. U.S. medium grain is actually preferable in terms of stickiness and texture for such dishes as rice salad, curry, fried rice, jambalaya and risotto to name a few.
Promotions of U.S. rice are innovative and imaginative, and reflect the unique status of rice in Japan. USA Rice partnered with hundreds of small shops to form a rice shop network to sell U.S. rice through this most traditional of retail rice channels. USA Rice also conducted two Sushi Master Contests in Japan with the requirement that rice for the contest had to be exclusively U.S. short and medium grain rice.
Japan is already a key rice export market for the U.S. and we look forward to the day when the market is further liberalized. That is when the long-term promotional effort we have made in Japan will truly bear fruit to the benefit of both U.S. rice and the Japanese consumer.
