Retail Promotion Introduces New U.S. Pork Product in Colombia
USMEF partnered with an added-value meat importer and distributor in South America to introduce a new U.S. pork product to supermarket customers in Colombia. The promotional effort, held in conjunction with Austin S.A.S., was funded by the Pork Checkoff.
Customers at a Carulla Premium store in Medellin, Colombia sample U.S. pork at a USMEF promotional event
Austin, which has worked in the Colombian market for more than 40 years and distributes Hormel commercial brands such as SPAM, Austin Blues and Cure 81, introduced Natural Choice Ham to Grupo Exito, the company that operates Carulla and Exito supermarkets.
The Natural Choice Deli Ham promotion was held at a Carulla Premium store in Medellin.
“Because Natural Choice Ham is a new item for the retail chain, Carulla offered USMEF and Austin an opportunity to talk about the attributes of U.S. pork to the chain’s VIP clients and conduct a tasting,” said Jessica Julca, USMEF representative in South America. “For our part, we developed an educational session to introduce the new product and ideas for using it. We were able to use the platform to share information on U.S. pork products and explain its advantages over our competition.”
Customers at a Carulla Premium store in Medellin, Colombia sample U.S. pork at a USMEF promotional event Samples of Natural Choice Ham were given out at a promotional event organized by USMEF and Austin S.A.S.
Samples of Natural Choice Ham were given out at a promotional event organized by USMEF and Austin S.A.S.
USMEF and Austin also hired two Colombian chefs to prepare simple and convenient recipes with Natural Choice Ham for attendees: Spanish-style sandwiches, ham with rice and vegetables and stuffed ham snacks.
“Sharing information and giving potential customers samples of products made with U.S. pork is very important in a competitive market like Colombia,” said Julca. “For our partner, introducing a new product is an opportunity to earn new customers. We look at it the same way – a new customer for Natural Choice is a new customer for U.S. pork.”