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Soy Excellence Centers will teach use of soy in budding markets around the world

A soybean checkoff organization is establishing entities in foreign markets to improve the health and nutrition of local communities in those markets. The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) is setting up Soy Excellence Centers (SECs) in several countries around the world. Speaking at the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange, USSEC CEO Jim Sutter said the centers will enhance expertise among food producers in the markets where they’re located, improving the way soy is used.

“We believe that these SECs will allow a learning facility where people from these regions can go and gain some of the expertise that the U.S. can provide to them,” said Sutter, during a news conference on the opening day of the conference.

The SECs, being established in Egypt, Honduras, Thailand, and Nigeria, with a similar program in China, will allow the growth of USSEC programs, according to Sutter, reaching a higher number of people in those markets.

“We think it will really allow us to extend the reach of U.S. soy,” he said, “which is a critical component to differentiating and building a preference for U.S. soy.”

The U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange, titled Gateway to U.S. Soy, is being held both virtually and in-person Wednesday and Thursday in St. Louis.