一家有百年歷史的公司將成為首家向中國出口大米的美國企業(yè)

一家有百年歷史的公司將成為首家向中國出口大米的美國企業(yè)

In the midst of the escalating trade war between the United States and China, one California rice company is bridging the divide.

在美國和中國之間不斷升級的貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)中，一家加州大米公司正在彌補(bǔ)分歧。

In July 2019, Sun Valley Rice won a contract with a Chinese importer, making it the first US rice producer to sell rice to China.

2019年7月，太陽谷大米贏得了一家中國進(jìn)口商的合同，成為第一家向中國銷售大米的美國大米生產(chǎn)商。

"China has been tough to get into because for many years it was illegal to sell our rice there," said Betsy Ward, president of USA Rice. But, in 2018, the US and China came to an agreement, making it legal to export American rice to China. As a result, more than two dozen US companies were approved to export rice to China. But Sun Valley was the first to land a deal.

“很難進(jìn)入中國(市場)，因為多年來，向那里銷售我們的大米是非法的，”美國大米協(xié)會會長貝琪•沃德表示。但是，在2018年，美國和中國達(dá)成了一項協(xié)議，使向中國出口美國大米合法化。結(jié)果，20多家美國公司獲準(zhǔn)向中國出口大米。但太陽谷是第一個達(dá)成協(xié)議的。

Sun Valley, a family-owned company based in Sacramento, California, had been trying to break into the Chinese market for close to 15 years.

總部位于加州薩克拉門托的家族企業(yè)太陽谷近15年來一直試圖打入中國市場。

"We would travel regularly to China to research [the market], attend trade shows and meet the industry players," said Ken LaGrande, who founded Sun Valley Rice with his father Michael in 2000. "It was a commitment we made as a family to persist. So when the opportunity opened up, we were ready."

“我們會定期去中國研究(市場)，參加貿(mào)易展會，會見行業(yè)參與者，”肯•拉格蘭德說，他和他的父親邁克爾•拉格蘭德在2000年創(chuàng)立了太陽谷大米。“這是我們作為一個家庭做出的堅持的承諾。所以當(dāng)機(jī)會出現(xiàn)時，我們已經(jīng)做好了準(zhǔn)備。”

"California's rice growing regions are the same latitude as Korea and Japan. So we all grow the same kind of rice -- medium grain and short grain -- that's popular in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisine," said LaGrande.

“加州的水稻種植區(qū)與韓國和日本的緯度相同。所以我們都種同一種大米——中粒和短粒大米——這種大米在中國、日本和韓國菜中很受歡迎。”

"But Chinese consumers, who eat rice every day, will now have more choice with our rice," he said. "It is of the highest quality, grown and packaged under strict labor protocols and environmental and safety standards."

“但每天都吃大米的中國消費(fèi)者，現(xiàn)在對我們的大米將有更多的選擇，”他說。“它質(zhì)量最高，在嚴(yán)格的勞動協(xié)議、環(huán)境和安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)下生長和包裝。”

Five generations of farmers

五代農(nóng)民

The LaGrande family has been producing rice in the Sacramento Valley, starting with LaGrande's great-grandfather in the 1920s.

拉格蘭德家族從1920年代拉格蘭德的曾祖父開始一直在薩克拉門托山谷生產(chǎn)大米。

"He recognized that the climate, soil and water supply in the region was the correct conditions to successfully grow rice," said LaGrande.

“他認(rèn)識到該地區(qū)的氣候、土壤和水供應(yīng)是成功種植水稻的正確條件，”拉格蘭德說。

Over the decades, the family integrated other aspects of rice production into the business, such as drying and milling. Eventually, it grew to become LaGrande Family Foods Group. "Now it's a couple of dozen different operations," he said. Those include farming, sprouting rice and sake milling.

在過去的幾十年里，這個家族將大米生產(chǎn)的其他方面融入了這個行業(yè)，比如烘干和碾磨。最終，它發(fā)展為拉格蘭德家庭食品集團(tuán)。“現(xiàn)在有幾十種不同的運(yùn)營，”他說。其中包括種植、水稻發(fā)芽和清酒釀造。

"These were not necessarily based on sound science, but more political," said USA Rice's Ward."Although we are happy that this sale was made, and we expect it to be successful, there is always a risk that future sales could be disrupted."

美國國務(wù)卿賴斯的沃德說:“這些研究不一定基于可靠的科學(xué)，而是更多地基于政治。“盡管我們對這筆交易的達(dá)成感到高興，也希望它能夠成功，但未來的銷售總是存在中斷的風(fēng)險。”