World Grain - March 2022 - 26

SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
month, Morton Sosland wrote to its readers, " World Grain
will be a pivot for the flow of information needed to allow
the world's most vital industry to improve its productivity,
efficiency and profit-making capability. "
Nearly 40 years later, Charles Sosland recalled his father's
vision: " World Grain came about because of what
Morton started at Milling & Baking News in the 1970s,
specifically his interest in and interactions with grain
business owners and executives around the world.
This also led to him breaking the news about the
Russian Grain Deal, news that secured the place
of Sosland Publishing among the world's leading
media. "
Neil Sosland, executive editor, markets, and
Morton's brother, added, " We had been thinking
about this concept for a long time. The company
and The Southwestern Miller were founded
in 1922 to serve regional flour millers. Although that
Charles Sosland
Chairman
magazine was directed at the US, we always had some
readers around the world. "
World Grain's first issue appeared in October 1982. It
assembled an 82-page folio, and its front cover featured
the planet Earth as seen from space. Its first
country focus - still among the magazine's most
popular series - examined the USSR. Headed
by Morton Sosland as editor/publisher, the
magazine recruited Tony Bush, a noted British
business journalist, to be managing editor.
As a new magazine, it could call on authoritative
reporters and writers, including Morton
Sosland, Josh Sosland, Melvin Sjerven, Jay
Sjerven and Roger Johnson. On the business side,
Dan Flavin
Publisher
it applied the talents of Mark Sabo, director of publishing;
Rob McKnight, director, North America advertising
sales; and Charles Sosland, director, international.
" In those early years, Tony Bush and Neil Sosland
worked with the magazine's editors, later including
Susan Robinson, Stormy Wylie and Melissa
Alexander, " Charles Sosland said. " Our current
editor, Arvin Donley, came to us as an already
well-respected journalist, knowledgeable about
the grain and milling fields. My own career
started on the milling and grain side, and later
I became group publisher for our grain titles. "
Getting onboard
Arvin Donley
Editor
The idea was right, the market was there, and the timing
was promising. But what about advertising support?
" After all, publishers also need to be able to monetize
their concepts, " said Meyer Sosland, chief operating officer
and executive editor, Sosland Publishing Co. He was
previously an assistant editor of Milling & Baking News,
soon moving to managing editor of World Grain. He is
Charles' son.
26
" We had talked to the world's major grain suppliers
and millers and learned that becoming the window on the
world would be unique, " Charles Sosland said.
Getting the advertisers onboard was somewhat
more difficult.
Neil Sosland observed, " With announcement of World
Grain, we encountered a certain resistance from European
advertisers to an American publication going to an international
audience. "
Charles Sosland explained, " The three most powerful
equipment suppliers in Europe were concerned that we
would become a marketing tool for their American competitors.
Only after I relocated to London with my family
and had success with two Italian manufacturers did the
other three big Europeans come around. "
Those " early in " advertisers were rewarded with prestigious
positions opposite " Letter from the Editor " and on
the front and back covers. These placements continued for
many years.
To further enhance the international positioning of
World Grain, publishers and editors attended and reported
various national industry meetings as well as the big international
shows. This also helped buttress the magazine's
relationships with international readers and advertisers.
" At the time we launched World Grain, there were
Italian and UK publications, each attempting to go international, "
Charles Sosland remembered. " The UK title
was as old as our Southwestern Miller (now Milling &
Baking News). "
Printing and mailing presented other hurdles to overcome.
Almost as soon as it launched, World Grain circulation
boasted subscribers in nearly 130 countries.
" We went through any number of printers, " Charles
Sosland said. " We encountered problems not only with
timely delivery of the magazine but also paper stock -
lightweight stock is less costly to mail but not so durable.
" And mailing was a significant challenge. We finally
worked out an arrangement with our printer in Singapore,
Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. They found a
company that would ship World Grain to local post offices
around the world within a week of publication. Then, it
was up to the local post office to get the magazine out to
the readers. It can still take two weeks to two months to
reach readers, but delivery has much improved. "
A world view, strongly voiced
World Grain's media kit today describes the magazine as
being " the international business magazine for grain, flour
and feed. "
" Our magazine circulates monthly to an estimated
38,000 readers in nearly 160 countries, " Donley said.
" The overall mission is basically the same as it was in
1982, which is to highlight industry trends, important
events and anything else that is relevant to our global auMarch
2022 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - March 2022

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