USMEF Leads U.S. Red Meat Team on Trade Mission to Ghana
The red meat industry took another step forward in exploring market opportunities in West Africa during the recent USMEF Trade Mission to Accra, Ghana. Representatives from USMEF member organizations joined buyers from 12 West African countries at a two-day trade seminar highlighting U.S. red meat production, its quality attributes and potential trade opportunities in the West Africa region. Members also visited retail outlets, cold storage facilities and other infrastructure important for U.S. exporters to expand their understanding of the market.
“There are 12 countries represented here in Accra, and about 30 reps from 13 exporter members. One of USMEF’s core missions is to bring buyers and sellers together, especially in these emerging markets,” says USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom. “The western coastal region is home to some of Africa’s largest cities and has some of the continent’s largest and fastest growing economies. It's time to take the next step, get aggressive and really tell our story in these countries.”
For members, the highlight of the trade mission was the face-to-face meetings that took place after the seminar with 76 buyers from 51 companies.
Watch video and see more photos from the USMEF Trade Mission.
“Developing trust and building relationships are keys to trade in this region so we wanted to make sure we put the best possible delegates from the U.S. into the best possible buying room we could facilitate,” says USMEF Africa Representative Matt Copeland.
One of USMEF’s primary objectives in new and emerging markets such as West Africa is to educate buyers about the quality attributes that differentiate U.S. red meat from domestic product and competitors. A focus of the two-day trade seminar was to introduce U.S. beef and pork production practices to buyers and explain how featuring U.S. red meat can help them grow their businesses.
The seminar also provided an opportunity for USMEF to demonstrate the range of versatile U.S. beef and pork cuts that are available to suit different market segments. USMEF Corporate Chef Germán Navarrete was on hand to create unique dishes for participants that featured U.S. beef or U.S. pork.
Heather Buckmaster, executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council, joined the trade team and was a guest speaker at the seminar.
“I think what's interesting about Africa, that I would want U.S. beef producers to understand, is that there is a wide level of demographics here,” says Buckmaster. “There’s obviously a foundational need for beef variety meats here but across the quality grade there’s an opportunity to move U.S. beef into this market.”
The trade mission was made possible with support from USDA’s Emerging Markets Program and USDA’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, the Beef Checkoff Program and Illinois Corn Marketing Board.