United's Victoria Backer with members of the Azerbaijani delegation

As part of an international program to learn more about agribusiness in the U.S., five leaders from Azerbaijan’s agricultural community visited the United Fresh office on Thursday, June 4. The program participants were invited to the United States through the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program, with the goal of returning to Azerbaijan with a better understanding of economic and environmental challenges of providing low cost, high quality and safe food products for both domestic consumption and international export.

In addition to visiting agricultural operations in California and Indiana, the delegation spoke with Victoria Backer, senior vice president of member services, and Miriam Miller, director of membership, to learn about the U.S. fresh produce industry and discuss key challenges facing produce companies in both the U.S. and Azerbaijan.

"United Fresh has a broad international membership base and this was a great opportunity to learn more about challenges the produce industry face overseas," said Miller. "While Azerbaijan's climate and history make for a unique agribusiness environment, we quickly found that many of the issues we face, such as increasing consumption, were common us both."