IABRN — Data suggests United States exporters shipped record amounts of pork to Central America in 2019, reaching nearly $230 million in value.
“Panama and Costa Rica were the growth pacesetters in 2019, with exports also increasing significantly to mainstay markets Honduras and Guatemala,” according to U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) officials.
A U.S. Meat Export Federation representative speaks to the recent growth, which is attributed to enhanced consumer education.
Lucia Ruano represents the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Ruano shares the majority of pork entering Central America is further processed. However, she has noticed a change in consumer behavior, thanks to educational seminars hosted throughout the region.
“We have been doing a lot of education. People think it (pork) is bad for your health – too fatty, too greasy,” Ruano said. “They have been learning that it can be another ‘center-of-the-plate’ meat.”
U.S. Meat Export Federation officials continue to promote other cuts in their cutting and cooking presentations, which show importers how to properly prepare U.S. pork.
“We’re teaching our customers – the staff of our distributors – how to cook pork. We have several cutting and cooking seminars (where) we bring a primal cut, cut it and cook it. They taste it and also learn the attributes and characteristics of U.S. pork. We are also teaching the nutritional facts of pork in the different activities we are doing,” Ruano said.
Ruano believes, with the help of these trainings, Central American consumers see U.S. pork as “an available protein at a good price.”
This article originally appeared on the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
