Still Plenty of Growth Potential for U.S. Pork, Beef in Colombian Market

Since the United States entered a free trade agreement with Colombia in 2012, it has become one of the fastest-growing destinations for U.S. red meat.

Don Mason, who will serve as a U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) project specialist in Colombia, has a long history in the Colombian market that began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970s. Mason later farmed and raised livestock in northwest Iowa before serving more than 16 years on the staff of the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Mason is excited about his new role and sees excellent growth potential for U.S. pork and beef in Colombia, where demand for high-quality protein continues to surge.

Through July, U.S. pork and pork variety meat exports to Colombia totaled just under 52,000 metric tons - up 50 percent from a year ago - valued at $118.6 million (up 47 percent). Beef and beef variety exports were also well ahead of last year's pace, increasing 29 percent in volume (3,526 metric tons) and 28 percent in value ($11.3 million).

TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: Since the U.S. entered a free trade agreement with Colombia in 2012, it has become one of the fastest growing markets for U.S. pork and beef. The U.S. Meat Export Federation has added a new representative in Colombia, project specialist Don Mason, who has a long history in the Colombian market and extensive experience promoting U.S. agricultural products. We hear more from Mason in this USMEF report.

Don Mason: I was a Peace Corps. volunteer in Colombia many years ago and stayed there for four years — ended up marrying a person from Colombia and we came back here, and I farmed in northwest Iowa for 26 years, raised cattle, raised hogs. So I got a feeling for the meat industry from the production side on the farm. Then I went to work for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, and of course principally marketing corn and corn products but one of those major corn products obviously is meat as well. So I got to experience a lot of the marketing of beef and pork overseas through my contact with USMEF there.

Joe Schuele: While U.S. pork and beef have a strong foothold in Colombia, Mason still sees great potential for future growth.

Don Mason: It's a rapidly growing market, improving economy and what that means is, that as their middle class grows, those folks want more protein. People like their beef, they like their pork, they're increasing their consumption of both of those, so there's lots of room to grow. The FTA certainly has helped smooth that. We've got some obstacles left to get over the hump with. Things like getting chilled pork in regularly and that sort of thing. There's still some obstacles, but we got a lot of potential. The domestic pork industry in Colombia is also growing and is also fairly strong, but I don’t think they can begin to keep up with the demand. The restaurant business in Colombia is growing leaps and bounds, lots of trendy restaurants getting in there, so on the beef side, lots of potential there because they appreciate good-quality U.S. beef in that market. The tourism industry in Colombia is growing all the time — major tourist cities Cartagena, Santa Marta, places like that are going to need more high-quality U.S. meat.

Joe Schuele: For more information, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele. # # #

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry. It is funded by USDA; the beef, pork, lamb, corn and soybean checkoff programs, as well as its members representing nine industry sectors: beef/veal producing & feeding, pork producing & feeding, lamb producing & feeding, packing & processing, purveying & trading, oilseeds producing, feedgrains producing, farm organizations and supply & service organizations.