Audio: 2015 Latin American Product Showcase will be Largest Ever

The fifth edition of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Latin American Product Showcase is coming up July 15-16 in San Jose, Costa Rica, and is shaping up as the largest ever.

Gerardo Rodriguez, USMEF director of trade development in the region, explains that more than 75 importers from 16 Latin American countries are already registered for the event, along with 36 USMEF member companies that will be exhibiting U.S. beef, pork and lamb products.

Rodriguez adds that the Latin American Product Showcase continues to grow in popularity because it is far more than just a trade show. The event also features ample time for one-on-one business meetings between exporters and buyers, and offers educational seminars on topics such as packaging, processing techniques and equipment, and cold chain management.

TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: The fifth edition of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Latin American Product Showcase is coming up soon in Costa Rica and is shaping up as the largest ever. Director of Trade Development Gerardo Rodriguez has more details in this USMEF report.

Gerardo Rodriguez: The location this year is going to be in San Jose, Costa Rica. So far we have registered 75 importers from 16 countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean, going as far as Chile. We have people from Columbia, from Peru and Nicaragua, which happens to be the biggest beef producer in the Central America, as well. There is a lot of opportunity for beef and pork. At this point, we have 36 member exporters already registered, so we have over 100 people attending this event.

Joe Schuele: Rodriguez explains that the reason this event continues to grow in popularity is that it’s far more than just a trade show.

Gerardo Rodriguez: We’re not having just a showcase. We are organizing over six hours of one-on-one meetings among the exporters and the buyers. And the idea with this is that everybody can get to know everybody in the region, and we are having people from all the different sectors – processors, food service, retailers, all key decision makers. One of the real things we are adding to this event is that we are having seminars and educational information about all those industries that don’t sell directly the meat products, such as companies that sell packing, ingredients, casings, equipment – all those companies related to the meat industry but is not a meat product, they are also going to be there. The idea is that we can expand the number of industries in this type of activity, so I think that this is going to be very beneficial, as well. Joe Schuele: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.