USMEF Trade Mission to Monterrey, Mexico
You may download the audio file here
A team of 15 farm industry leaders traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, last week, representing the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) in the first post-COVID trade mission. The group met with buyers and importers at the Expo Carnes trade show, visited a processing facility that utilizes only U.S. pork products and viewed a wide variety of retail ranging from traditional markets to high-end meat boutiques.
In this USMEF Report, USMEF-Mexico Regional Director Gerardo Rodriguez notes that the group was brought to Monterrey in part because of the broad diversity of retail available there, which features both common markets and very modern, premium grocery stores.
Keith Miller, representing the Kansas Soybean Commission shares details about the work of USMEF to help a processor switch from domestic pork belly to U.S. pork jowls to maintain quality while controlling costs of their chicharron product.
And Indiana farmer Jim Douglas, who represents soybean growers on the USMEF Board of Directors, talks about the importance of trade missions in maintaining strong relationships with key trading partners such as Mexico.
The USMEF delegation included producers and other industry leaders from Kansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado and the National Pork Board. The full list of USMEF trade team participants is available here.