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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• What the Agriculture Commissioner does
• The Go Texan Program
• Commissioner Miller’s efforts to increase Texas agriculture’s market exposure

If you ever need to reach Sid Miller just take a trip to your closest gas station where you can find his contact info posted on the pump. He’s the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, and what the Agriculture Commissioner does is oversee a variety of programs aimed at promoting the agricultural economy and encourages healthy living. They have over 130 statutory functions that they are required to perform for the state of Texas including acting as the consumer protection agency for the state, which is why you can find his contact info on gas pumps.

One of the programs to come from the Commissioner’s office is the Go Texan program. It’s a marketing program in place to help support Texan businesses. You may have seen the logo on different products while out grocery shopping. It’s a program that gives local Texan businesses the support they need to grow and thrive. It’s not just for packaged food brands; a restaurant can become Go Texan certified as well as manufacturers and even entire cities! Commissioner Miller said, “it’s the unofficial chamber of commerce for the state.”

While Commissioner Miller has been in office, he instituted a global outreach initiative for the Go Texan Program after realizing everyone loves doing business with Texans! The program has been very successful in creating a global footprint for Texas products and sees a high return on investment. Due to its success, they’ve been able to open a Texas Agriculture Office in Argentina. It’s made it very easy for Texas businesses that are apart of the Go Texan program to expand their businesses internationally.

To learn more from Commissioner Miller about Go Texan and how it’s helping Texan businesses tune in to the fifth installment of Packing Taste. If you enjoy the episode be sure to share it with friends and colleagues. You can listen to more Packing Taste here.

Host: Axel Brave

Guest: Sid Miller

Transcript:

this is a family media podcast welcome to the packing taste podcast I’m your host axle about it I guess today is probably a name you’ve seen on the side of the fuel pump or you’re voting ballot so what does said Miller the Texas agricultural commissioner I have to do with the package food industry well you’ve ever seen the go Texan logo on the side of your favorites also granola bar or even to maturity so does the guy who oversees the whole program I dug into the importance of the program and how small business owners like myself can get involved and gain access to much larger audiences in Texas and around the world I’m glad I had the chance to chat with the commissioner and hopefully a discussion considered some light on how to get more involved

welcome to the show said it’s good to be with you thank you yeah I appreciate you guys it your team coming in today always been a fan since I started learning with the TV a was and becoming a member of the go Texan program which is kind of why I wanted you here today obviously being in the the consumer packaged food side of things you guys have helped me out a lot but before we get into that I love to hear a little bit more about yourself where you were raised and then kind of go into why you decided to do politics in agriculture okay well I’m a H. generation farmer and rancher my family came the United States and seventeen hundred we’ve been foreman ranching ever ever since if we have a couple more good years will not get the place but for hopefully yeah but I have a my education is in agriculture location lad culture from talk to State University when weather came up action ag teacher so I got to work you know with if if I in for H. and I learned real fast at the greatest natural resource we have the state is our youth and those two organizations were we trying most of our leaders so we put a big emphasis on the F. if in in for H. at the Texas department of agriculture because one in seven jobs in this state or somehow related to agriculture in with only the younger generation to come along grow food fiber in fuel force

yeah and I I just did a couple of vents at the rodeo the Houston rodeo and there was a huge banner out there that had like seven different statistics on how agriculture impacts every Texan yeah like the cattle industry like the one in seven jobs it’s it’s it’s quite astonishing how big it is and how much we don’t notice it but I guess being what what university did you say it was karma statehouse the better part of the immune system okay yeah okay so I guess you you around the agricultural your life with the far mean with university and did you immediately know like I wanna I wanna help bring this the life and and be more a part of this and on a state level federal level like what I got it had it I guess start in politics from agriculture to get out of not the normal what was not a normal fix most everybody legislature either lawyers a rich and I’m neither one yeah I don’t quite fit the mold yeah what what it like why don’t you start a restaurant if you like the agriculture you know like why well you know to to this day I still making a living off the land raise you know cattle commercial cattle horses Robert is crops so actually I got started one in it it was on a local level certain ana hello could look to the little local elected school board localized the card there and from that I really had no plans to run for a state representative or statewide office I was actually recruited to run against the incumbent Democrat I don’t know I didn’t have a chance but no one told me that the Republican and help that seat since reconstruction after the civil war okay so anyway obviously I was successful in it up serving twelve years in the Texas house of representatives right chaired the I go to Lostock committee which actually has oversight over the agency that I’m now running also chaired was chair of the Republican caucus and shared instinct maybe called homeland security and public safety oversight of the DPS Texas Rangers and securing the Texas border okay yeah Texas Rangers I know heard about and get get okay if they’re on your side yeah at the on sex and

so can you can you tell us a little bit more about what the Texas department of agriculture overseas because I don’t think people are fully aware of how much that touches everyone’s lives okay well we do we actually have over a hundred thirty statutory functions that were to perform for the state for the state of Texas this put in law okay so everybody knows were all about cows and blouse and sales right but we’re we’re a lot more than and yeah so with the consumer protection agency for the state so we’re the people that look look out mean of the first got your back so within that division of many division but one is weights and measures so we oversee the the sale and of fuel four hundred thousand fuel pumps in the state we reorganize that under my leadership our inspectors are now driving seven hundred fifty thousand miles less getting forty to sixty percent more done in eliminated not thing positions good will run it like a businessman also a note and you know that you see the consumer information sticker if you ever want to get a hold of me I’m easy to find my phone number emails on everyone of those pumps across the status it is I’ve seen it so scales we do scale you think well yeah those are at the deli counter in the grocery store where I check out in the way the produce that’s true but there we also do pawn shops buy gold tobacco shops pharmacies mail houses every Starbucks in the state there’s almost as many of those or gasp yeah and we actually inspect ping pong balls leave that or not yeah well with the ping pong ball it’s me yeah for the Texas lottery well yeah we need those we need them what what what a term that strikes me is the consumer protection that sounds like a good is sin in them to what the TDA does it right that is it you guys try to make sure products we buy your use our services we use that those companies have the consumer’s interest in mind that’s right to make sure we that’s the same with the side of it we run the nutrition program for the state and federal government I’m responsible for five million school meals each day your single biggest program you know that that is actually a six billion dollar agency that means our budget is larger than budget of thirty one governors so it’s not a not a small agency to we everything’s bigger here intact yeah absolutely absolutely go so we run the pesticide program we provide bio security for the state we pull trailer trucks over and go through make sure there’s no hazards in it no in invasive species no insects for forbidden Nick except for like the idea so if you ever wondered you know who checks make sure that our two main street and destroyed but some boring insect that B. S. yeah okay and the so

so what one of the questions I wanted to ask you was how other unique ways at the TV a the department of agriculture supports small businesses and Texas because obviously we have a lot of gas here you guys make sure the like you said the measurements in the units there are are all accurate but what about small business farmers manufactures restaurants do you know there’s a direct correlation between the two D. A. and and supporting those weeds This year we’re celebrating our twentieth year of our marketing program and that’s where we interact with the businesses across the state it’s called the GO Texan program, that’s the that’s the logo right right there you’ll see that when you go to the grocery store a lot of products and you have you have it on your products. It’s a branded product, so the program has been very very successful it’s kinda regionally a set up to help but a small start ups we may help them get into H. E. B. or Kroger’s or show you how to get it on Amazon those kind of things. I soon learned is being commissioner traveling around the globe that to everybody loves to do business with Texas. You know Texans is this hat and the accident in the belt buckle in the boots and you know just some about Texas it’s special and we know it. I mean the only I we kind of have a little swagger you know yeah we do you know George Bush said that’s just walking in Texas how can agree with the men but you know let’s say you can always tell a Texas right yes you just can’t tell us much will yell at all so I sat down Mustapha said you know we can do a lot better with this bill Texan program I want to institute a global outreach initiative so we may hear somebody Mustapha don’t every kind and on the globe the first twelve months my office been very very successful every dollar we spend would bring back about sixty it’s been so successful that I’ve opened and text format culture office in Argentina US central central South America has been very very good for us animal genetics embryo semen breeding stock things like that so there it didn’t process of upgrading their livestock herds down there yeah we have if you want to export maybe you don’t have enough product to send a whole container to John to do but ours some more words we’re selling so we have a preferred export company that handles with will handle your product scum McLean global and they’ll rep your product when I travel Europe or or the Asia or wherever so that’s been very successful for our our people that want to sell outside the United yeah and you guys offer grants for expertise but reports right I’m actually president of a of a organization called the southern United States trade association that trade association if you want to go with us to to Germany or do you buy or some were it to you know to get your product info in front of the on a different market we will reimburse you for up to half your cost yeah we do have money for that and we utilize that we’re we’re stepping that up so that that’s been a great program and we have a couple other grants to that we can help get you there and get you in from the bars yeah

and so you said the go Texan program started about twenty years ago twenty years ago okay and since then it’s just completely evolved into this globalization style of like four years ago we we we open the the global outrage where we were going beyond the borders of the United States most of the marking was here in the state but then with no the internet came home you know since then so now what you know would we have with their internet marketing to but this is a new whole new program what we’re doing the international market yeah so to to take a step back IT S. heard about the go Texan program a little like a little over two years ago I had one of my mentors who let me make my sauce and his facility he brings me this off the office one day he’s like are you go Texan member I’m like not and know what that is let alone like this the first hundred jars I’ve ever made he’s like he’s like this website become ago Texan member and seem to be the best hundred dollars you and and with that hundred dollars has got me so far has got me into ten central markets and soon to be a hundred and twenty eight GB stores there you go literally access our folks right around here and and at first I get the thing and I’m like oh this is just the logo so people know that you know my company’s tax and tax fraud but not only that it opened up my company to this huge network of of information in people so I started finding co Packers that I didn’t even know what a co Packer was when I start yeah it connected me with manufacturers with suppliers and it kind of gave me this this base to like ask anyone from the TVA any like crazy questions about you know retailers ATB’s but you guys not only do consumer packaged food brands you guys like a restaurant can be go Texan right we have a wide array of of of go Texan members and programs we have a go Texas certified retirement community yes we were your city or town can get certified bill Texans very read less than four percent of the city’s in intact is can actually meet that standard which is pretty pretty rigid goal there we have certified go Texan farmers markets yeah we do that we have certified go Texan restaurants since I became commissioner of open ended up the other entities that not this Sir dad coach we don’t limit anymore just add culture of an aerospace company yeah go states Toyota yeah we have a bio medical company so we we kinda god the unofficial chamber of commerce for the stated that yes yeah

so for for those small food brands that my colleagues people I work with what can you tell what it takes to become a go Texas other than the hundred dollars you know the hundred dollar and that’s what I made but what makes someone a go Texan member to that to that that fifty percent of their business in Texas like what eggs well it’s you know can can pitch which category you fall into that if we talk about the the road manufacture so the best way to do that because I’m not the detail person okay yeah I’m the big picture yeah yeah I would recommend you go to the go Texan dot org go to website but you can you can John four hundred Bucks now if you are a little more than that you there’s there’s different levels okay in the services you get with that and like if you’re a big corporation you know we will tell you Mike you your own membership plan according to what what you need just like the I mention McLean global our export company they don’t really make anything tex they don’t really didn’t fit couldn’t couldn’t join yes so Lawson my people’s it out we need these did they can be a huge asset to us to get in these foreign markets so we tailor made a membership that just fit that category yeah okay and some but but on the website at least not not only does it offer you know the network of everyone who’s a member but on the website even printed something out like the food product development tips which essentially lists how to begin a food manufacturing brand for that there’s a business plan register with the state acquired tax ID number receive UPC code yada yada yada and it’s this beautiful like five page packet that because there’s so many manufacturers him so much so many people in agriculture it’s awesome to have a packets that shows you are kind of guides you into starting a brand so how long would it would have taken you to get to that point if you hadn’t had these guidelines from the go Texan program it would save you any time it you know it wouldn’t if I had this it took me awhile to realize that you guys had this so it was a little messy at first because you know it’s like okay I do need to you PC away away but I do need someone to manufacture it but does it need to be certified and once you go to the go Texan site you realize like the answers are all on here I could I could I could to save me a couple weeks to work if I had read this before but it’s there’s there’s a lot of beautiful resources out there and I’ll ever yes I’ve had on here we talk about the house like the kindness that Texans have with one another and how everyone’s pretty helpful and I see a lot of that in the go take some program yeah okay

so what are some what you’ve said can you list again the organization’s go Texan works with because my understanding was solely with food but you guys help everybody find farming and guy yes what what what are some other organizations you know we we will you know work with anybody wants to be a go tex member that’s that’s a Texas company they can they can meet meet our standards you know what was it be food products or are you know denim shirt Sir whatever it is we do reach out on a lot a lot of different ways one of our big project of the years the state fair of Texas where we have a twenty thousand square foot go Texan palladium we set up a general store which you should have your products in with and I think I mean in the yeah and so you you know all about it and and that just chance for you to get up and do live pace demonstrations and things like that so that that goes on for about three weeks yeah we also do the same thank not only twenty thousand foot yes Gail but it to for stock show and rodeo the San Antonio stock show San Angelo Houston’s a big win for us that we have go Texan member booze we can come in maybe one day maybe two days you want to give out samples to the public we go all over the state all you know real from Sadie’s down it down in the valley yeah so we’re real a lot of places doing a lot of things to promote our go Texan members and the products yeah and and to give you listen as an idea of what that means so go Texan would send you an email a couple weeks prior a couple months of months prior to the state fair or the Houston rodeo Dallas rodeo what have you or even the other events going on and they offer you discounted rates and at least you know just being part of the email lists your informed of what’s going on where other consumers in Texas sorry Texans are gonna be at so for example I get an email from go Texan saying central market which is a beautiful reach food retailer here I got an email before a lot of the other customer saying Hey go Texan has a discount to have a booth here and I got that email from go Texan six months into doing this and got invited by central market to the show so go to go to fix go Texan open that open the door for you what should work yeah exactly everyone helping each other out and for the rodeos for example my first year I go Texan send me send me another email like Hey you sign up for the rodeo I think it’s a hundred Bucks a day and there’s literally thousands of people stopping at your booth and everyone is just having a blast or so everyone is buying your product everyone is like giving you honest good respectful feedback which I really liked and I did the rodeo in Dallas and Austin and Houston and it was just a blast but being a go Texan member allowed me to get those emails and get those calls saying come on down let’s let’s let’s have some fun with all the other Texans you know what one thing I did I did mention that and that’s you know that’s a neat thing that we can do that we go and we lease up a big space yeah and you know for for you or any other small business maybe listen up US base pay and they’re you know fifteen thousand dollars a blue thing we can do in the staff in it for three weeks straight is kind of tough yeah but you can say I give me a Wednesday you know I’ll be down there and you can take it one day and get your product out there and get a get a feel for the public one thing is this really unique

I don’t know anyone else is doing this but we have a go Texan presence at NASCAR also we we have a NASCAR truck the truck series I am racing Austin self star driver the the whole back trunk lid is the go Texan logo across the Taylor this is don’t mess with Texas so let’s say you might be maybe this is probably not true it may be I don’t know so your target market is is the people that follow NASCAR Sir well you know to sponsor a whole karma racing team you’ll that’s big Bucks big big Bucks but as a go Texan member now you have the opportunity to get US six by six spot on that car to advertise you know blacks barbecued and lock guard taxes or whatever so everything on the car is go Texan and you can see you you can be part of the last course then you can use that in your marketing in to the in you know get get inside all other the people that that follow that industry so it’s kind of unique no one’s ever really dug so we try to think outside the box yes in the what we come up with some pretty good ideas are now no I I totally agree and going back to your point of like the booth space at the rodeo like a small branch small food brands can afford a fifteen thousand dollar slot let alone cover it for three weeks straight but you guys provide that opportunity for you know the hundred brands that were there to come in on a Wednesday or on a Saturday and be able to show off their biggest product for that for that day yeah and like a lot of aid can can do one or two days yeah yeah of course yeah and I just I I it’s hard to write as of now I can’t think of any other organizations that have allowed me to do something like that so I don’t know just becoming a member has opened up many doors and the same thing the same story from central market that I had experience is the same story with a to be where I got an email from go Texan saying it should be is having their their annual like showcase come on down and I’m thinking in my head like well it should be they don’t it’s not my client cell but you know I’ll I’ll go down there it’s Texas you know and it all just like started unraveling it was it was very beautiful okay so can you tell us a little bit do you know how members can sign up is it a simple just for the the listeners out there do they yeah sure I mean he’s pretty easy just go website detection dot org or are you know Texas agriculture dot Goeben and there’s a link to get there yeah if you forget you know so yeah and it yeah it’s it’s it’s not it’s not a you know what we’ve kind of products air from being simple and we try not to move it speeded government at the Texas bar yeah we try to move a little faster below more nimble than that and we we wish we’re still working on it but we’ve gotten a lot better at it yeah and I think if I remember I haven’t done the application in awhile but I think it’s like a four page application it asked like how much of your business is done in Texas which as a small rat L. everybody’s business years mainly done in Texas and like you said there’s different tiers different levels of signing up and it’s either a hundred Bucks or whatever the other two years but

I mean let me just qualified so there’s some things we don’t let him okay it has to be done it has to be Texas I mean you you can get the peach jam made in Georgia bring it over here instead and go Texan from Iran at and that and now now you got to be a Texan by you got to be real tax yeah okay okay and we might let you bring in half and half we we do some of that with our one people you know it has to be a seventy five percent but you know sometimes you have a crop failure we still don’t have enough produce enough grapes of supply are are one reason so we make some concessions occasionally you know what we’ll try to try to make it to fit your needs yeah yeah and I think you guys do a good job with that because for example my jars aren’t made in Texas they come from wherever they come from but my team is here we saw a lot of our ingredients from here I I work my labels come from here like all it well one thing I notice is that I work only with Texas businesses when it comes to manufacturing sure I was right it would yes it did a very cool some of those businesses that you trade with the go Texan members yeah yeah I think all of them I don’t think I can keep it in the family yeah yeah I don’t think I’ve worked with a lot of people that aren’t go Texan members not because I don’t want to but because everyone is go Texan member and it’s just like I don’t is joining this really awesome club a it it’s kind of hard to describe okay well some of

I guess to wrap up a little bit what are some of the big projects that you guys have going on for the food industry and the agriculture industry I don’t have anything in mind but I wanted to ask that question well I thought I think than the number one topic on everybody’s mind is is a is a camping views products the C. B. D. all of it so yeah it’s illegal in the federal government rib move this restrictions on growing him she lifted up the state’s role in status Texas is still of forbidden substance you know so we’ve got a we’re working with the legislature we you know I’m a sport that you know all of the farm have every tool possible for for him to make a profit a profitable so we’re working that through the legislature hopefully we won’t have it any fix we’ll be able to play at this spring it’s not going over we don’t have the federal guidelines will have those to fall on Gail were November so if the legislature do their job open that up where we can have the thorny to promulgate the rules after the federal guidelines come out we could possibly have that ready force spring planting next next year that’s pretty soon yeah and it is a one of the goals to is to have Texas as well one of the largest suppliers of hemp obviously we we would be more than likely we use is larger state is large I culture state you know it is we are we’re we’re we’re second in agriculture production the California I hate being second California but they have eight eighty billion dollar one industry that we don’t have other than that we lack some nominee would lock wipe them out yeah we’re growing our one yeah well what we got about three billion dollar one yeah and we’re growing up about five hundred wineries across the state so that’s kind of where we are yeah and a house or a house or a this might be a touchy subject enough to talk about about house our meat industry looking like is it still good we’re sorry no one there but we’re by far we actually have if we talk about beef you know we’re number one in beef production acts we have twice as many as a second place okay so if you took all the beef in Texas internet in the quarter pound hamburger we all know what a quarter pounder and if you’re not nag you know what to call it a and you laid those Indian did reach all the way around earth four hundred ten it’s like a hamburger superhighway away around the earth that’s how many can we got yeah yeah we have and we do have a lot of cattle and I’m I’m I’m glad we do because at least for my brand it’s very associated with grilling and meat and and it’s it’s just been a tradition in my family and a lot of my family friends so I I’m glad to be a part of it I’m I’m glad I’ve got some your product now because last night I grilled revising for lice I mean I could be used yeah now you’re gonna have to grill yeah yeah I don’t mind I will I promise well some I think I think that’s all I had in mind did you think we missed anything

so we any shout outs right yeah the thing that the talk about that yeah so I guess for for you listeners out there I think we convinced you enough to go become ago Texan member very helpful community tons and tons and tons of resources it’s definitely brought me a lot of success has brought a lot of my colleagues and you’ve heard other founders on here talk about what they go Texan program has done for them so if you’re you’re not ago Texan member yeah it’s become one so the whole steak and see what you have to offer and again said Miller thank you for coming on the show we we love having you thank you Bridget whenever help you just call me from the gas I will thank you again commissioner Miller I appreciate you taking a moment from your busy schedule to talk with me about the go Texan program and how Texas is making its mark globally as a leader in agriculture and soon to be innovators and had the backing taste team includes me axle brother producer Mariah gossip an audio engineer Jake Wallace thank you everyone that found in media for your support if you guys have really been enjoying the show I would love if you guys left us a comment or subscribe maybe even show the show with one of your co workers family members or any other foodie fan in your life until next time thanks for listening also if you guys are still listening in a really enjoying the founding media podcast network you should totally check out a positive influence it’s about how influencers work in the media industry