U.S. red meat has gained access to a promising new market in Nigeria.
Although Nigeria remains closed to all raw U.S. beef, pork and lamb, Matt Copeland, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) representative in Africa, said it is an intriguing destination for U.S. red meat products and has excellent growth potential, but warned exporters about potential difficulties in the market.
?I can’t explain how big Nigeria actually is if they kick in demand wise,? Copeland said. ?It’s wonderful to have this massive whale as a trading partner. Obviously, if the oil price is good, Nigeria can be the biggest economy on the continent. Certainly, it’s the most populous country by a long way. We want to make sure we know all of the importers well. And we want to make sure that the big importers that are gearing very well with the retail environment there that we are speaking with them and with the retailers to make sure as soon as it opens properly, that we can leverage promotions. Nigeria is a difficult market- if things go wrong, you need to vet your trading partner really well. And two, there is some very technical tricky law regarding trademarks. I’d be encouraging anyone who sees that market and they would like to be vertically integrated into it and not just trade into it, they would do well to invest a little bit of research around trademarks.?
USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom is also excited about the prospects for U.S. red meat in Nigeria despite these obstacles.
?I remember my trip down to Lagos, Nigeria, a few years ago,? Halstrom said. ?While the wet markets and traditional wholesale markets still dominate, there was definite presence of modern retail and, within this modern retail, I would even go so far as to say there was specialty retail to the equivalent of like a whole foods- and this is several years ago. So, it really reminded me of how Mexico City looked in the 1980s: you see all those signs with social media with a young demographic with increased purchasing power. Lagos, Nigeria, is going to develop at a very quick way, and I don’t think it’ll take nearly as long as it took Mexico City.?
For more information, visit usmef.org.
