Leaders with the US Meat Export Federation have been reviewing a recent National Pork Board study that identified emerging opportunities for US pork in Vietnam and the Philippines.
The NPB reports, prepared by global research firm Gira with funding from the Pork Checkoff and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Emerging Markets Program, share critical insights on how U.S. pork can position itself for long-term success in these markets, where domestic pork production has been significantly impacted by African swine fever.
Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia Pacific, comments on the market assessment studies and on cold chain challenges U.S. pork faces in the Philippines.
?I thought the (study) was really good,? Haggard said. ?We go into these markets and we see certain parts of them at certain times, but it?s good to step back and see a holistic picture and also the Gira perspective because they know the meat markets well.?
?In terms of the Philippines,? he continued, ?I?m very interested in how that cold chain develops. I?m really wondering if the wet markets there will ever get the cold storage infrastructure to be able to handle more imported products. Will they develop the frozen meat shops that we see in the Hong Kong wet markets, China wet markets, and Taiwan wet markets??
Vietnam?s supermarket sector is rapidly expanding. Sabrina Yin oversees USMEF operations in Southeast Asia. She says the U.S. industry is capitalizing on opportunities in this sector but must continue to educate Vietnamese consumers on the attributes of frozen pork.
?What we have planned is to have educational program for consumer to understand the nutrition value and freshness,? Yin said. ?When we look at frozen pork, especially in Southeast Asia, the perception used to be that it?s from the fresh pork that can sell so you have to freeze it. That would be the project we have for educating consumer in Vietnam. The important thing is we need to have US frozen pork in the market in the retail store.?
More information on the National Pork Board study can be found at pork.org.
