From staff reports Emily Shuping, executive director of the Made in Oklahoma Coalition, is currently promoting Made in Oklahoma Month by encouraging consumers to shop for locally produced products.
“The Made In Oklahoma Coalition is a public/private partnership between the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and Oklahoma food and beverage companies,” Shuping said. “We work to raise awareness for Made In Oklahoma products and increase consumer loyalty for products made right here in the state of Oklahoma.”
Buying MIO products boosts the state’s economy and creates local jobs.
“There are so many benefits that come along with being a member of the Made In Oklahoma Coalition, and we do a lot of marketing and promotion for our member companies with our grocery store partners as well as restaurants throughout the state of Oklahoma,” Shuping said. “We are constantly working to help facilitate business to business relationships between our Oklahoma-owned businesses and sales outlets for those businesses.”
MIO membership grants members opportunities to participate in cost-share activities and marketing promotions through a range of media outlets.
“MIO companies employ over 50,000 Oklahomans and provide a lot of jobs here in our state, so every time that you support local, you are helping support another family and another small business right here in our state,” Shuping said.
Shuping encouraged others to visit their website www.miocoalition. com to enter sweepstakes, become a member or to find MIO participating restaurants and recipes.
“We have thousands of recipes (online) that showcase all sorts of MIO ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store, so that is a really fun way that you can support local this month by finding a great recipe online and buying those products at the grocery store,” Shuping said. “We have a restaurant listing that has over 1,000 Made in Oklahoma restaurants statewide, and those restaurants are all restaurants the utilize MIO products on their menu.”
Shuping said a retail section is being added to the site to help consumers find places to purchase MIO products. Their Facebook page, Made in Oklahoma Coalition, also hosts giveaways.
“There are lots of fun opportunities for you to win great prizes, and we are even doing a shopper sweepstakes in Oklahoma City at Uptown Grocery in Edmond on April 25, so you can enter to win up to $1,000 of free groceries,” Shuping said.
For more details, visit miocoalition. com.