Graceland Fruits chosen as Michigan exporter of the year

Frankfort's Graceland Fruit, Inc. was chosen by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as the Michigan Agriculture Exporter of the Year, and was presented the award by Gov. Rick Snyder recently.

Graceland CEO and president Alan DeVore was honored for his company's proactive work toward identifying top export markets and changing their products to suit export customers' needs. Part of that work was participation in a trade mission to Japan in the fall of 2011, during which Graceland focused on functional and healthy foods.

"Graceland Fruit has worked hard to grow exports since 1995, and this award represents a tremendous achievement by our entire team. We're grateful to everyone at Graceland, the state of Michigan and our overseas partners for their support in making Graceland Fruit the Michigan Agriculture Exporter of the Year for the second time in its history," says DeVore. "As consumers focus more on nutrition and healthy foods, we're well positioned to bring more niche products to the marketplace to occupy that space. This is especially true in overseas markets like Asia, and we're confident that our export business will continue to grow and thrive."

Michigan exports about a third of its agricultural commodities each year, and Graceland alone saw an increase of more than 40 percent in its 2011 exports, which are mainly dried fruits like tart cherries, cranberries, apples and blueberries. It began exporting in 1995, mainly to commercial food buyers, but recently has expanded to retailers and home shoppers.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Alan DeVore, Graceland Fruit, Inc.