United States pork exports are up seven-percent year-to-date, which is largely driven by African Swine Fever (ASF) in China.
An industry professional analyzes opportunities for United States pork in the year ahead.
Norman Bessac, vice president of international marketing at the National Pork Board, lays out four areas of opportunity for U.S. pork internationally. He summarized opportunities for United States pork in Japan and Mexico in yesterday’s report. He now outlines areas for expansion, particularly in Central and South America.
?Chile has been a great market. They export a lot, but import a lot of our product,? Bessac said. ?Their per capita consumption is high. We want to continue to serve that processing, retail and value-added markets there. The business there is up significantly and we continue to see opportunity.?
?Colombia has been a big growth market, up 20-percent in the last two to three years in a row. People don?t eat as much pork per capita as (Chile). If we can go in and develop that market, two things happen. Domestic consumption rises, which supports both their domestic industry and our import industry. If we can get those to rise together, it?s feasible for us to double the volume going into Colombia by introducing people to the great taste of pork,? Bessac said.
Lastly, National Pork Board staff look to create value for United States pork.
?As the rest of the world grows in economic consumption, protein is one of the investments they make first. As you look around the world, we?re starting to see protein growth, even in markets like Africa. (It?s) probably a way off before pork is going to be huge, but our job is to get in front of that curve and position for success,? Bessac said.
