ATO maintains close contact with the public and private sectors to maintain and expand access for U.S. agricultural products, as well as to obtain local support for and resolution of related trade issues. In addition, ATO develops marketing tools to enhance the image of U.S. products and to consolidate its position in the marketplace. Along these lines, the ATO launched in March 2017 a promotional campaign entitled “#USfoodEXPERIENCE”. The campaign aims to support the branding of U.S. food products and has as its skeleton the James Beard Foundation Culinary Map, which divides the United States in 6 culinary regions. The #USfoodEXPERIENCE campaign brings together multiple communication tools and activities targeting opinion makers, culinary industry insiders, influencers, restauranteurs, and traditional and culinary media. In addition, social media is the pillar that provide the primary message to the consumers, therefore the ATO Sao Paulo launched an Instagram account entitled @usfoodexperience which covers the following content:
- History of the culinary traditions and of the U.S. gastronomy
- US products present in the Brazilian market and where to find them
- U.S. agricultural production (agricultural belts and how they shape local culinary traditions
- Statistics (production, imports, etc.)
- Culinary tourism/culinary schools/iconic places
- Iconic local products and companies
- Trade shows in the United States related to food and agriculture
- Recipes of American food and beverage
- Product information (beer, wine and distilled beverages)
- U.S. Food Industry (what’s unique about certain products and production)
- Restaurants and chefs (new talents, chef of the month, restaurant of the month)