The International Executive Service Corps, or IESC, has issued a Request For Proposals from companies who want to help US importers and distributors of Dominican avocados market the avocados in the US. Chad Ford, IESC Associate Vice President, explains: “The selected company will create a virtual marketing platform to include a Consumer Website and a Retail Resource Portal to be housed with ADOEXPO (the Dominican Association of Exporters). They will also create a local beneficiary handover plan that will include long-term cost estimates as well as management recommendations. Finally, they will support the development of marketing plans that include support activities of up to three importer and distributor firms. The rebranding and collaboration with U.S. distributors is expected to help US producers as well.” IESC presented and shared the Tropical Avocado Marketing Strategy with the Florida Avocado Committee in August 2019.
Collective trademark: Tropical Avocados
The green skin avocado variety is being marketed under the Dom Tropical Avocado of the Dominican Republic label, which is a program facilitated by IESC. “Through our USDA-funded Exporting Quality program, we have provided support to ADOEXPO to develop and register a collective trademark called Tropical avocados from the Dominican Republic.” The trademark assures the quality of the product, and growers and exporters of green skin avocados with the Dom Tropical Avocado of the Dominican Republic trademark will receive support in the marketing of the product, Ford explains, saying: “All exports from the Dominican Republic that utilize this trademark will pay a fee that will be utilized to finance market promotion and supervise compliance with the quality and variety requirements of the trademark.”
IESC is looking for companies who have experience promoting specialty crops and fresh produce to support the market expansion for US importers and distributors of Tropical Avocados from the Dominican Republic. “The purpose of the RFP is to provide professional services to develop a virtual platform with marketing tools and provide individualized marketing promotion support to US importers and distributors of Dominican Tropical Avocados on plans that support their market expansion in Texas and the US West Coast,” Ford shares.
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, October 13th at 5:00 pm EST. Click here to read the RFP and apply.
For more information:
Lily Alcock
IESC
Email: lalcock@iesc.org
www.iesc.org