USMEF reflects on Covid impacts in Mexico

by | Jan 4, 2021 | 5 Ag Stories, News

The US Meat Export Federation is working to meet the rapidly changing needs of international consumers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization is developing creative marketing strategies for international markets, including Mexico. Gerardo Rodriguez is USMEF?s Director of Marketing in Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic. He recently said Mexico and Central America continue to recover from three major situations.

?The first one is the sanitary crisis known as COVID-19,? he said. ?The consumers started deciding in a different way than they used to decide. A second crisis started during the summertime. This was the unemployment crisis. Due to this first crisis a lot of businesses closed, and a lot of people were without a job. The third one is the economic crisis.?

Rodriguez says the surge in e-commerce, online ordering and delivery services, as well as expanded options for preparing higher-end meals at home, are likely to endure well into the future, even as restrictions are eased.

?Is 2021 going to look more like 2020, or will it look more like pre-Covid in 2019? The expectation we have is going to be more looking like 2020,? Rodriguez said, ?but with our element of being more hybrid, we will have a physical component now that people will like to be more in-person. They want to have some activities.?

At a conference in November, USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said US pork is well-positioned for growth in 2021 in Mexico and Central America, as well as Japan, Southeast Asia, and South America.