02/09/06 Domestic opportunities for pulses

02/09/06 Domestic opportunities for pulses

Farm and Ranch February 9, 2006 Jennifer Roberts became the Food Marketing Manager for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council last August and she's enjoying her job. Roberts: "I am in charge of the entire domestic marketing program and so I am pretty much laying out my strategic plan and implementing that plan for the council and hopefully we will make huge changes in the industry." Roberts sees a lot of opportunities in the value added segment of the food industry for peas, lentils and chickpeas to be used as ingredients. Roberts: "Food manufacturers can use them for "better for you" products which is a basis for them fighting the obesity epidemic here in the U.S." Roberts can't yet quantify just how much those opportunities for pulses add up to; Roberts: "But I believe we will generate additional sales of peas, lentils and chickpeas here in the domestic market. Outside of canned soups, packaged dry goods, and dry food mixes, we are trying to get into the breads market, the pasta market, the tortilla market. There are so many opportunities for us right now. But to put a number on it just yet, not quite." But the product development work and domestic marketing research to help determine which opportunities to pursue first are underway. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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