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Central, South America growing markets for U.S. beef
Story Date: 4/26/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 4/25/12
Central and South America continue to be successful markets for U.S. beef and pork exports. Through February, pork exports were up 23 percent in value ($34.8 million) and beef exports had nearly doubled in value ($21.8 million) over the record pace of 2011, according to the U.S. Meat and Export Federation.
Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for marketing and communications, in an audio report attributed growth in the region its evolution into a market that imports higher-quality, valued-added U.S. pork and beef cuts. He said this is a strong indication that USMEF’s efforts to educate importers, retailers and restaurateurs in the region about the quality and diversity of U.S. red meat have worked.
In pork, USMEF is seeing sales of commodity items such as bone-in picnics and bone-in hams, but the “exciting” thing is the rise in purchases of value-added items such as boneless hams, boneless loins and St. Louis-style ribs. Similarly, on the beef side the organization is seeing a move to the chuck roll and underutilized cuts from the chuck roll.
“Really what we thought of not too long ago as strictly a commodity region it’s turning into a value-added one very quickly,” Halstrom said.
After holding its first major product showcase in the Central and South American region last summer in Panama City, USMEF is planning a similar showcase is for July 2012 in Bogota, Colombia. Buyers from 10 to 12 different countries in the region are expected to attend.
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