Food

Presentations & Seminars
OIACI works one-on-one with Israeli and Ohio businesses to facilitate trade and marketing opportunities within the food industry. Presenting these opportunities locally allows Ohio professionals easy access to information that can expand their market and global product reach.

Examples of past presentations and seminars include:

• Kosher Seminars, which are led by Rabbis with years of experience providing kosher supervision services state-wide. These seminars provide participants with information about what types of products can be certified kosher, the kosher certification process, kosher marketing. Additionally, participants have the opportunity to meet with OIACI staff following the seminar to learn more about exporting to Israel. Workshops are conducted in Columbus and Cleveland, OH.
• Food Safety Workshop led by Israel Ben-Tzur and Don Stidham of BT9, an Israeli company that has developed a real-time monitoring system of food quality from the beginning of the cold food chain until it reaches retail stores. The workshop was conducted at the OSU Columbus campus.

To learn about upcoming professional development missions, please see our Events Calendar.

Projects
Global trade is vital to sustainable development in today’s economy, and OIACI works to create trade opportunities between Israel and Ohio that help each develop their global presence. Through our trade projects we introduce food products that can be exported from one region to another. Our relationships with food producers and grocers in both regions allow us to fluently facilitate, cutting down barriers and bringing all parties to a mutually accessible starting point.

Examples of past trade projects include:

• BT9 Ltd. is an Israeli company that manufactures and markets a platform for integrated data collection and communication using a cloud-based real-time wireless monitoring system. The system tracks the shipment of perishable items in order to ensure the freshness of the product and reduce loss. It can monitor temperature, humidity, ripening, GPS location, and shortly will include pathogen detection. Following the initial sales of BT9’s systems in Ohio, the company continues to utilize OIACI’s assistance in their pursuit of additional Ohio clients.
• Ezra’s Dairy is a Millersburg, OH-based joint venture between Israel’s Gad Dairy and Ohio’s Troyer Specialty Foods, Inc. The company produces and sells Ezra’s creamy Feta cheese which is Kosher certified and distributed through the Ohio dairy channels. Ezra’s Dairy sells its cheese products to supermarket chains, stores, and the food service sector in Ohio and throughout the U.S. OIACI played a crucial role in attracting Gad Dairy to Ohio and establishing Ezra’s Dairy joint venture, which not only retained Ohio jobs but also created new jobs in the state. OIACI continues to assist the joint venture on an as-needed basis.
• An Ohio Cereal trade deal that was reached with OIACI’s assistance resulted in the export of $300,000 worth of the Ohio manufacturer’s food product to Israel.

If you are an Ohio business owner interested in assistance with importing or exporting a food product or technology to or from Israel, please contact us.

Tradeshows & Exhibitions
Beyond facilitating business connections, OIACI actively promotes Ohio and Israeli businesses in local and international tradeshows and exhibitions. Examples of events we have participated in include:

• The Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland, OH is the largest presentation of fine food, fine art, craft breweries, wineries, restaurants, and purveyors in the United States.
• The IsraFood-Hotex Exhibition in Tel Aviv hosts 30,000 food distributors, retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and hotel representatives making it the largest event of its kind in the Middle East.

If you are interested in learning how international promotion can expand your market, please contact us to learn more about our promotion process.

Research & Technology
As communities, eating habits, and distribution opportunities evolve, success in the food industry becomes more dependent on research and technology that can meet market demands and increase market reach. OIACI supports R&D in this area by facilitating research opportunities and technology distribution between Israel and Ohio. For example, OIACI facilitated the OSU Demo of BT9 Intelligent Supply Chain Solutions which is an Israeli company specializing in systems used for real-time monitoring of food quality from the beginning of the cold food chain until it reaches retail stores. OIACI assisted BT9 in planning the demo at OSU Columbus campus cafeterias in collaboration with OSU’s Food Industries Center. The demo consists of the installation of BT9’s system to monitor refrigerated food temperature OSU Columbus campus cafeterias to prevent spoilage, train students, and to further product research. The system will also serve as a demo site to showcase its potential to interested Ohio food companies.