U.S. Beef, Pork Highlighted at WorldFood Uzbekistan

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) recently met with traders and meat processing companies at WorldFood Uzbekistan 2016, one of the larger food trade shows in that region of the world. This year it attracted more than 160 companies from 28 countries.

Yuri Barutkin, USMEF representative in Russia and the Surrounding Region, said there is strong belief that Uzbekistan’s domestic meat production is not keeping pace with its growing demand. Beef is produced locally in large quantities but most of it is produced on small farms, thus not offering the country’s meat processors a stable supply. With virtually no commercial pork production in Uzbekistan, the demand for pork in the country is being satisfied with imports from the European Union. Although the market is currently closed to U.S. pork due to porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) concerns, USMEF continues to promote U.S. pork to the country through education.


TRANSCRIPT:

Ralph Loos: The U.S. Meat Export Federation recently promoted U.S. beef and pork at WorldFood Uzbekistan 2016. In this USMEF report, Yuri Barutkin, USMEF representative in Russia and the Surrounding region, talks about the Uzbekistan market and its potential for U.S. red meat.

Yuri Barutkin: Uzbekistan is a country with 30 million people and it has a fast-growing economy. WorldFood Uzbekistan is a regional show but it is the most important show in Uzbekistan. Everyone who is anyone in the food industry in Uzbekistan has made an effort to attend that show. We have seen a good number of processing companies coming to our stand and displaying interest in U.S. beef and pork.

Ralph Loos: Uzbekistan remains closed to U.S. pork due to concerns about porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), but Barutkin believes once that issue is resolved, U.S. pork can find success in the market.

Yuri Barutkin: Our estimate is that about 20 percent of that 30 million people living in Uzbekistan consume pork on a regular basis. Uzbekistan does not really have commercial production of pork, and therefore they have to fill the gap with imported product. And I think the U.S. has every capability to displace European pork and be competitive. However, we are now facing some restrictions on entering the Uzbekistan market with U.S. pork. USMEF is working together with USDA officials to try and address the issues. I think it’s a very promising market, as far as beef consumption is concerned, as far as pork consumption is concerned, but it does take an effort to develop it. It’s very difficult to break in, but once you are in the opportunities are there because there is a population that consumes a lot of meat and I think the U.S. is very well positioned to cater to that demand.

Ralph Loos: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Ralph Loos.