soybean field

USSEC Strategic Plan Aims to Meet Customer Needs, Create Preference for U.S. Soy

USSEC’s executive committee attended a planning session in Bogota, Colombia on February 25, 2014 to develop the organization’s strategy refresh.
At this planning session, the executive committee discussed USSEC’s role in marketing U.S. soy; reviewed market trends; and considered the Four Forces:  buyers, suppliers/competitors, barriers to entry/market access and emerging issues.  Key factors for consideration included:  technology acceptance; key relationships; customer needs; government actions; U.S. brand strategy; profitability for U.S. producers; and resources, including value chain collaboration and USSEC funding.
The executive committee defined USSEC’s vision, mission and strategy.
Vision:         U.S. soy for a growing world
Mission:       Optimize the utilization and value of U.S. soy in international markets by meeting the needs of our stakeholders and global customers.
Strategy:       Create a preference for U.S. soy by building and maintaining relationships through trade and technical services.
Three strategic goals were defined.

  1. Resolve our customers’ market access challenges through trade services, collaboration, and leveraging within the soy value chain.
  2. Collaborate with the importers and exporters of soy to create a preference for U.S. soy in markets in which we have a competitive advantage.
  3. Meet our customers’ technical services needs by leveraging market access and technology advances.

Tactical examples and measurements were defined for all goals.
USSEC will conduct yearly surveys to assess its progress against these three strategic goals.  The target audiences for these surveys will be buyers of U.S. soy (whole beans, meal and oil), including the top ten importers of U.S. soy, in addition to other countries with direct USSEC representation.  Additional target audiences for the first strategic goal include exporters of U.S. soy and members of USSEC’s Industrial Advisory Council.  Metrics were laid out to measure performance and progress.
This strategic plan was approved at USSEC’s board meeting in Milwaukee on September 16 and will be reviewed by the American Soybean Association (ASA)’s Trade Policy and International Affairs Committee and the United Soybean Board (USB) executive committee in July 2015.