USMEF Targets Guatemala for Pork Growth

While the United States has by far the largest share of Guatemala’s import market for pork, the image of pork in the Central American nation remains low and per capita consumption is expected to be only about seven pounds this year.

To help boost the image of pork, USMEF is teaming with the Guatemalan Association of Pork Producers (APOGUA) on a new marketing campaign to promote the “goodness of pork.”

“This is a collaboration that works for both parties,” said Chad Russell, USMEF regional director for Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America.  “The United States already has a 79 percent share of the pork import market in Guatemala, so anything we can do in partnership with APOGUA to improve the public perception of pork and increase overall demand will benefit both of us.  It’s a win-win situation.”

With support from the Pork Checkoff, USMEF recently initiated a new pork imaging campaign in Guatemala that will feature radio, television and print advertising as well as news articles.

Russell kicked off the campaign at a press conference Oct. 15 in Guatemala City attended by more than a dozen reporters.  He gave a presentation about the pork situation and outlook in the United States, while Tec de Monterrey professor Deyanira Trujillo talked about the study, “U.S. beef and pork cuts at the Mexican market,” which was co-authored by Dr. Nelson Huerta, USMEF-Mexico’s director of technical services.  The study documented differences between U.S. and Mexican pork cuts and demonstrated that U.S. pork cuts are leaner with lower cholesterol and “trans” contents.

An overview of the consumer media campaign was provided by Gerardo Rodriguez, USMEF’s trade development director for the region.

Over the next two months, a USMEF chef will give media interviews to provide consumers with suggestions on preparing pork dishes during the Christmas season.

The new “Pork Is Good” campaign is designed both to help spread the message regarding the quality of pork to consumers and to strengthen the bond between the U.S. industry and the domestic pork industry.

“Last year, 82 percent of U.S. pork went into the processing sector, so the members of APOGUA already are key customers of ours,” said Russell.  “However, the image of U.S. products is very good in Guatemala, so this campaign can help us capitalize on that perception to increase U.S. pork sales at retail.”

Overall pork consumption in Guatemala rose from 5.7 pounds per capita in 2002 to 7.6 pounds in 2008.  Total U.S. pork exports to Guatemala rose 12 percent in 2008 to 6,796 metric tons (15 million pounds), and have remained stable in 2009.

Export Requirements Revised for Sheep and Goat Meat to Belize

The FSIS Export Requirements for Belize have been revised to include restrictions on fresh/frozen sheep and goat meat, meat byproducts and meat food products from animals less than 12 months of age. Therefore, participation in the ARC 1031 EV Program is required to export these products to Belize.

Companies that have an approved EV Program to export sheep and goat meat to Mexico, Canada, or the Cayman Islands and wish to export these products to Belize must now submit an e-mail to ARCBranch@ams.usda.gov with the following statements indicating that the applicable changes have been made to the program:

• Reference to the country has been incorporated into the approved Quality Manual. The statement must reference where this is addressed within the company's quality manual, any SOPs used to ensure the requirement is met, and records maintained to verify conformance to the requirement.
• Reference to the country has been incorporated into your product list. Remember that the product list must be submitted to ev.export@ams.usda.gov for approval prior to export of product.
• Management has reviewed the FSIS export requirements for the country and understands the requirements.

A revised quality manual does not need to be submitted to the ARC Branch, but necessary changes must be made to a company’s quality manual prior to submitting the email.

Please contact Courtney Heller at 303-623-6328 or cheller@usmef.org with any questions.