The European Union is running a four-year promotion of its food and beverage exports to the United States at the same time that sales are nearly stagnant. The USDA says EU imports will grow by 1 percent in fiscal 2024, to $33.9 billion.
“One of the things that defines Europe is good food,” said EU ambassador Jovita Neliupsiene during a wine and food tasting session at the EU embassy in Washington on Tuesday. The campaign, using the tagline “More than food and drinks, savoring stories,” runs through 2026 with target audiences that include 25 million “curious millennials” in regions of the United States where imported food is an established market.
Embassy officials said the four points of the campaign are the quality, safety, authenticity, and sustainability of the EU products. The immense variety of EU foods and beverages are produced from a diverse array of soils and climatic conditions, but member nations share farming standards and food safety regulations, said a promotional booklet.
The EU is the third-largest source of U.S. food and ag imports, behind Mexico and Canada. The EU is the No. 4 market for U.S. food and ag exports, pegged at $12.3 billion this fiscal year. Alcoholic beverages were the largest contributor to a slight slowdown in imports from Europe, said the USDA. Demand “has shifted away from Europe and towards Mexico and Canada,” said USDA analysts in February.