The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that after many years of negotiations, U.S. pork is now eligible for export to India.
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) representative Monty Brown, who conducted market research in India, said that India is a challenging market that currently imports small volumes of pork, but its growing economy and enormous population offer long-term potential for the U.S. industry.
?The companies we met with were interested in U.S. pork, primarily bone-in cuts, if they could get them, I think because labor is cheaper there,? Brown said. ?The products that really excited them was pork carcasses and bellies. They really will be interested in a six-piece bone-in carcass. I know that lots of times the US industry may frown upon producing this product, but it’s ought to be something we should look at today, especially with our labor problems, labor issues in the packing plants. They also purchased quite a bit of bone-in loin ribs, that may be something interesting for us. And I also think there may be opportunities there for bone-in Boston butt.?
Brown added that, while there is plenty of potential for e-commerce in India, it still needs time to develop.
?We know that the e-commerce side, some businesses have increased two-fold, threefold, fourfold, with huge customer base,? Brown said. ?Because of the spread of the country and the cost of bricks and mortar, that’s where I think ecommerce is still going to win there. It’s really early days still, I think we can slowly develop the business. But I wouldn’t expect huge volumes right away. I think this is a market where we need to develop the relationships, get it working well. Don’t get too excited about the numbers, keep building the trade and we then will go along and help the importer develop the trade for the U.S. products when it’s there.?
For more information, visit usmef.org.
