A team of export board members and staff are in Mexico this week, meeting with APC’s contract agency Grupo PM and learning more about the Mexican market for U.S. peanuts. Mexico has always been an important export market for the U.S. peanut industry, but in 2018, it is expected to move to first place for volume of exports and has been growing consistently for many years. Grupo PM, a company that represents U.S. organizations in Mexico has been working with the APC for almost 20 years.  The meeting this week is to set strategy for the coming year and beyond, in order to ensure that APC is utilizing the industry’s funding from USDA for export promotion in the most productive way. APC has been providing information to the peanut trade in Mexico for many years and conducting public relations campaigns to promote peanuts to Mexican consumers as well.  The main messages revolve around the health and nutrition of peanuts as well as their versatility  in cooking and snacking.  Results from the Mexico public relations efforts in 2018 indicate that for every $1 invested the industry received $72 in benefits.