By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
This month’s NEAFA Member Profile is Global Agri-Trade (GAT), a member of NEAFA since 2014, and a leading importer of palm oil in the United States since their formation in 2004. “I joined GAT in 2014 because I had been a customer of theirs,” said Barry Baetz, Director of Sales at GAT and NEAFA Executive Board Treasurer. “I was one of their earliest customers, and I left my prior job to join GAT because of my knowledge and confidence in the product from my experiences with it at Shur-Gain, and I was interested in supporting the sales and growth of their market.” Baetz has a long history with agriculture. “I’m from Canada originally, and I received my animal science degree in Ontario at the University of Guelph. After graduation I became involved in the agriculture industry, focusing on the dairy side of things. I was with Shur-Gain for 20 years, working on dairy nutrition and general management.”
GAT is based out of Rancho Dominguez, California, but has offices and warehouses throughout the United States. “When the organization started in 2004, their primary port was in Los Angeles, which is the largest in the country,” said Baetz. “Since then, the group has grown substantially, and we have warehouse locations throughout the states and on both coasts. We have a location in Alexander, NY that I work out of. GAT’s focus is palm oil, its basic importation and its derivatives. There are two main divisions; human consumption, and the animal feed division. The food division is devoted to shortenings, baking products derived from palm oil, things like that. I’m part of the animal feed division.”
Baetz had prior experience with NEAFA before joining GAT, and he thought that the organization was a perfect fit for the business. “I’ve been on the NEAFA board of directors for 5 years, and I’m currently the treasurer on the executive board. NEAFA is great for so many different reasons. First, they are an organization that is proactive, and tries to enhance and improve the agricultural industry in the northeast. NEAFA’s focus is primarily on dairy, but we do have an overall interest in all agriculture. We’re a do-er type of organization vs an organization that has a lot of meetings, but doesn’t get much done in terms of legislation or out in the field. Our organization is very engaged in leadership, lobbying, advocacy, and education. The membership has always been interactive, and there’s a great social aspect to it as well with the annual meeting and the Golf for Good Works tournament.”
Speaking of the annual meeting, Baetz is looking forward to both the annual meeting and the Dairy/Transportation Summit the day before it begins. “The annual meeting this year is tremendous,” said Baetz. “It’s really great that NEAFA is working with NEDPA to come together and collaborate on this dairy/transportation summit the day prior to the annual meeting. It’s good that we can participate and bring value to such an important topic like transportation. It impacts all parts of agriculture and its community, and the whole country quite frankly. We’re excited to interact with the high level attendees that will be there. The NEAFA Annual Meeting has always been viewed as a value added benefit for our members because of the excellent speakers and the social component. It’s wonderful to have a chance to meet all of our fellow members and the industry leaders that attend. It’s an event that needs to be part of everyone’s schedule in agriculture in my opinion.”
Transportation is a large issue for GAT. “It has the potential to stop our business if import ships aren’t moving,” said Baetz. “Exorbitant costs are being charged to all parts of agriculture. Shipping and transportation is the backbone of business. All of our product comes in via containers. GAT is the number one importer of palm oil and products used in animal feed in the nation. When things in our world get slowed up, it has an impact on the industry nationwide. The costs that are being incurred from shipping drove up the palm oil market throughout the pandemic, and to this day it is keeping costs elevated. Trucking comes into play once our product gets to a sea port in the country. It needs to be transported to a warehouse and then trucked to customers. Trucking and the impacts that they’ve had from the pandemic has been a double whammy of costs being incurred by us, and sad to say by the end user as well. It is a direct impact on profitability on dairy in the nation. But palm oil is a product that is a staple for dairy nutrition formulation and diet. It’s a nutrient that is needed for dairy milk production. It has been a very tumultuous time, and things still aren’t back to normal. That’s why the upcoming Dairy/Transportation Summit is so important and comes into play. I’m looking forward to seeing our members at the upcoming meetings, and hearing their thoughts and experiences.”