Representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), international agricultural leaders and industry partners visited the University of Georgia’s Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center (FoodPIC) on Oct. 14 as part of the 2026 Global Friends of American Agriculture Trade Excellence Awards program.

The inaugural award program recognized top foreign importers of U.S. agricultural products. Located on the UGA Griffin campus, FoodPIC was one of several stops on the delegation’s agricultural tour of Georgia, showcasing agricultural innovation and support for entrepreneurs, family farms and small businesses.

“We have a delegation of some of our top importers from across the globe receiving inaugural awards from USDA, and we really wanted to give them an opportunity to see U.S. agriculture at work,” said Jennifer Mack, associate administrator with USDA FAS. “We were fortunate enough to get connected to and really enjoyed the program.”

In addition to touring FoodPIC facilities and viewing state-of-the-art culinary and food-processing equipment, the visitors learned how the center helps entrepreneurs bring new products to market by assisting with food safety, processing, packaging, commercialization and product development. FoodPIC Director James Gratzek said the program provided a broad overview of how state and federal investments are supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in Georgia agriculture.

“I think they got a flavor of what we do at UGA Food Science and Technology Extension,” Gratzek said. “We’re trying to be good stewards of the investments that the state and federal governments provide.”

Supporting Georgia’s food entrepreneurs

The tour also featured a showcase of FoodPIC clients and partners, including Kevin Farnan with Fruve, Shomari Furtch with Furtch’s Lemonade Specialty, Chase Cannady with North Florida Elderberry, and Kevin Mis Solval with JellyCoUSA. Each entrepreneur pitched their products to the delegation and shared how FoodPIC supported their business growth and product development.

“FoodPIC has definitely provided the platform to make this possible by providing the facilities, equipment and technical expertise that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get access to,” said Mis Solval, also an associate professor in the UGA Department of Food Science and Technology and UGA’s 2026 Research Awards winner for Entrepreneur of the Year.

“Through support from USDA and other development programs, we’ve been able to test different approaches to how we can add value to our products and get in contact with manufacturers, producers and other partners who have been key for us to move forward with commercialization,” he added.

Mis Solval, co-founder of JellyCoUSA and chief scientific officer behind the company’s jellyfish collagen skincare products sourced from the Georgia coast, said support from state and federal agricultural agencies is vital to developing new companies like his.

“The support of federal and state agencies that believe in some of these ideas definitely help us to commercialize and introduce more innovative products into the market, with the end goal of developing industries that we don’t currently have,” Mis Solval said.

Connecting American innovation with global markets

Malaysian delegate Neoh Soon Bin of the Soon Soon Group said that it was encouraging to see American entrepreneurs being supported by facilities like FoodPIC to develop new products and launch new businesses.

“I think it’s great to see that the spirit of entrepreneurship still exists in the U.S., and there are solutions by the University of Georgia that are providing the platform to allow these businesses to succeed,” Neoh said.

Other delegates saw connections between the entrepreneurs’ products and their own countries’ agricultural commodities. Delegate Lupino Lazaro, agriculture counselor for the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines, recognized tropical products such as mango, coconut, and seaweed in Fruve beverages, as well as jellyfish in JellyCoUSA products, and the success of North Florida Elderberry, a family farm business.

“Because the family farms of the Philippines are also the backbone of our agriculture, we’re inspired also by their success story,” Lazaro said.

Mack said the visit introduced international agricultural leaders to emerging U.S. businesses, potentially creating new trade opportunities.

I think it helps show them the innovation and diversity of products that the United States does have to offer, and ultimately, when these small companies are ripe for business, we can connect them back to the individuals who came today,” Mack said.