USMEF Targets Growth Opportunities with Mexico’s Small and Mid-sized Meat Processors

USMEF’s outreach efforts to Mexico’s small and mid-sized meat processors are paying important dividends for U.S. exporters and producers. Over the past several years, USMEF-Mexico staff members have been meeting with these processing companies to observe their operations and to make recommendations aimed at helping them improve their level of efficiency and productivity. This process has fostered a strong working relationship with many of these companies and allowed USMEF to identify those most likely to expand their use of U.S. pork and beef.

“Through this process, USMEF has expanded the universe of potential customers in Mexico for U.S. red meat,” said Chad Russell, USMEF regional director for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic. “We found that small and mid-sized companies in Mexico’s processing sector were somewhat underserved, and many of them were interested in learning about new supply options. This allowed us to introduce them to the use of U.S. products as way of growing their businesses.”

USMEF is able provide these companies with expertise in such areas as equipment selection, plant design, regulatory compliance, distribution and merchandising. In addition to offering these services on-site, representatives of some companies were invited to participate in USMEF training seminars and on trade team visits to the United States.

“Processors must navigate a wide range of challenges if they are going to remain profitable and achieve long-term success,” Russell explained. “When USMEF can help them do that, either through our in-house staff or by using outside consultants, it really solidifies our network of contacts within this sector.”

A few examples of companies that USMEF has worked with successfully include:

Excellent Foods, SA de CV

This processing company traditionally purchased beef offal from domestic and Central American producers. But after USMEF meat consultants provided training seminars, operational audits, and U.S. packer contact information, the company now imports 75 percent of its beef offal from the United States – which represents approximately 15 to 20 truckloads per month.

Dragon Exports de Mexico, SA de CV

Following plant visits and training seminars from USMEF meat consultants, this company began purchasing U.S. pork in small amounts. This led to an invitation being extended to company management to be part of a trade team visit to Iowa, where they had more extensive discussions with U.S. packers. Last year Dragon Exports purchased 28 truckloads of U.S. pork for its processing operation.

Cárnicos Querétaro, SA de CV

Historically, the main product offerings from this company were poultry, lamb and some pork offal. After management personnel were invited to attend USMEF red meat certification seminars, the company became more interested in U.S. pork. This resulted in the purchase of 20 truckloads of U.S. pork muscle cuts last year.

“What really excites me about this outreach project is that USMEF has found innovative ways to make purchasing U.S. pork and beef a more attractive option for these key customers,” said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. “In this era of increasingly intense competition, it’s more important than ever to build a high level of customer confidence and loyalty. When companies view USMEF as an on-the-ground resource that can help their business grow, that’s not something our competitors can match.”

These outreach activities are funded through support from the USDA Market Access Program, the Beef Checkoff Program and the Pork Checkoff. Mexico is currently the largest volume market for both U.S. pork and beef, with exports through the first half of 2014 totaling:

• U.S. pork/pork variety meat: 333,072 metrics tons valued at $751.6 million
• U.S. beef/beef variety meat: 116,337 metric tons valued at $546 million