Organic flour from Royal about to break into Korea

ROYAL CITY — Cascade Organic Flour (COF) of Royal City is about to break into international trade in the Korean market.

According to consultant Patrick Boss, the Royal City company’s representatives had exceedingly good discussions with South Korean officials during a recent trade mission. They hope that will allow COF to enter into the international market by the end of the year.

Boss was one of five Grant County-based business representatives who traveled to Gunpo, South Korea to introduce eastern Washington products directly to markets abroad as part of an eight-day trade mission.

“There was clearly an overall interest by a number of buyers over in that marketplace for organic products,” Boss said. “There are some legitimate leads that came out of this trip. It was a pleasant surprise the level of interest that we ran into. It was very specific interest from companies that wanted specific information.”

Boss provided only general information, but did say follow-up meetings are scheduled. Cascade Organic Flour is a relatively new company, launched by Justin Brown last year.

“There’s definitely a very strong demand for U.S. or Washington state organic food products. It was very evident there was a clear demand,” Boss said. “I would say there are some leads that will come to solution in the next six months to a year.”

Now it’s a matter of international trade issues to work through, Boss said. Customs, transportation quotes, determining ports of entry, tariffs or trade barriers, what can or can’t be shipped and the packaging all have to be hammered out.

The Korean interest in organic food sources is evident. Boss said one Korean bakery he visited had a sign on the wall telling its customers it uses only organic ingredients in its baked goods.

“They don’t really grow organic foods, so there’s definitely a lot of interest in purchasing organic foods,” Boss said. “It’s not the pesticides that are an issue here for the Koreans. What they’re primarily concerned with is what we call Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Their concern was genetic modification, and that’s why they want organic.”

Back in February, Cascade Organic Flour announced its plans to double organic wheat production to 5,000 acres in the Columbia Basin by 2018. This increase in acreage will allow Cascade Organic Flour to produce 30 million pounds of whole wheat organic flour from its own organic wheat production in less than two years.

According to Boss, COF is the largest family-owned, vertically-integrated organic wheat growing and organic wheat flour milling operation in the United States. The wheat is stored in state-of-the-art grain storage facilities, which allows a year-round stable supply of organic wheat that consistently supplies the organic flour mill.

One thing central Washington has going in its favor is location. Even though it is 5,292 miles away, it still has a logistics advantage over competitors.

“Our primary competitors in that market are Australia and Canada,” Boss said. “With Washington state being fairly close to Korea logistically, I feel like we can compete in that market.”

A Korean bakery school in Seoul also expressed interest in Cascade Organic Flour products, according to Grant County Economic Development president Ray Towry.

“That’s a place where chefs are learning their trade,” Towry said. “They are becoming familiar with this product. As they move into the work force, they’re going to want to take that product with them”