Pork Stimulus Promotions Boost U.S. Sales in Mexico
Pork Stimulus Promotions Boost U.S. Sales in Mexico
Holiday pork promotions funded in Mexico with help of the U.S. soybean industry’s “Pork Stimulus Package” have netted an additional 330,000 pounds of U.S. pork sales at four key retailers.
The Pork Stimulus Package was created in a collaborative effort by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC), Nebraska Soybean Board, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and United Soybean Board (USB) to support sales of U.S. pork in key international markets. Mexico was identified as one of those target markets along with Japan and South Korea.
“The involvement of the U.S. soybean industry in supporting pork promotions in Mexico has enabled us to combine the money with existing USDA Market Access Program (MAP) funds and generate new matching contributions from retailers,” said Chad Russell, USMEF director for Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America.
Across the three countries, USMEF expects to be able to expand the promotional power of the $1.35 million fund to more than $4 million by combining it with cash from these other sources.
One promotion at 20 San Francisco de Asis supermarkets in Merida and Campeche in southern Mexico boosted sales of four targeted pork cuts (pork Milanesa, boneless and bone-in pork legs, and pork shoulder/picnic) by 155,620 pounds – a 28.6 percent increase over the previous year’s sales during the same period from Thanksgiving through the New Year holiday. The stores sold a total of just under 700,000 pounds of U.S. pork during the promotion.
In-store demonstrators hand out samples and encourage shoppers to buy
USMEF-Mexico sponsored in-store demonstrators to enable shoppers to sample products, and provided incentives for volume purchases: a 2010 pocket calendar for all purchasers and a 2010 kitchen calendar for those who proved the purchase of a minimum of 5 kilos (about 11 pounds) of U.S. pork.
Mexico’s fourth-largest retailer, Chedraui, participated in a similar promotion with 46 of its supermarkets in eastern and southern Mexico. The promotion moved a total of nearly 2.4 million pounds of U.S. pork, an increase of almost 143,000 pounds (6.3 percent) over last year. The cuts targeted for promotion at Chedraui were bone-in and boneless pork loins, pork kabobs, pork steak and chopped pork.
Commercial Mexicana joined with USMEF on a promotion at 82 of its stores in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Queretero, Leon, Veracruz, Puebla and Merida. Product demonstrators and calendar give-aways helped Comercial Mexicana sell more than 337,000 pounds of U.S. pork during the holiday season period – an increase of 8.56 percent or 26,581 pounds more than the same time in 2008.
The goal was slightly different at 30 S-Mart retailers in northern Mexico (Ciudad Juarez and Monterrey), where beef is strongly preferred to pork. The holiday season promotion there aimed to introduce new consumers to U.S. pork to help develop product familiarity and future interest. The results were unexpectedly significant with total pork sales at about 2.4 million pounds during the promotion representing a 56 percent jump compared to the prior year.
“These promotions were part of a broader concerted effort to promote U.S. pork during the time leading up to and through the Christmas and New Year celebrations,” said Russell. “While it has been a strong year for U.S. pork in Mexico, there are still opportunities for growth that we continue to target.”
In 2009, Mexico was the top volume market for U.S. pork exports. The U.S. sold about 504,000 metric tons (1.11 billion pounds) of pork valued at more than $760 million – a 27 percent jump in volume and 10 percent increase in value over 2008.
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.
Pork Stimulus Promotions Boost U.S. Sales in Mexico
Holiday pork promotions funded in Mexico with help of the U.S. soybean industry’s “Pork Stimulus Package” have netted an additional 330,000 pounds of U.S. pork sales at four key retailers.
The Pork Stimulus Package was created in a collaborative effort by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC), Nebraska Soybean Board, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and United Soybean Board (USB) to support sales of U.S. pork in key international markets. Mexico was identified as one of those target markets along with Japan and South Korea.
“The involvement of the U.S. soybean industry in supporting pork promotions in Mexico has enabled us to combine the money with existing USDA Market Access Program (MAP) funds and generate new matching contributions from retailers,” said Chad Russell, USMEF director for Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America.
Across the three countries, USMEF expects to be able to expand the promotional power of the $1.35 million fund to more than $4 million by combining it with cash from these other sources.
One promotion at 20 San Francisco de Asis supermarkets in Merida and Campeche in southern Mexico boosted sales of four targeted pork cuts (pork Milanesa, boneless and bone-in pork legs, and pork shoulder/picnic) by 155,620 pounds – a 28.6 percent increase over the previous year’s sales during the same period from Thanksgiving through the New Year holiday. The stores sold a total of just under 700,000 pounds of U.S. pork during the promotion.
In-store demonstrators hand out samples and encourage shoppers to buy
USMEF-Mexico sponsored in-store demonstrators to enable shoppers to sample products, and provided incentives for volume purchases: a 2010 pocket calendar for all purchasers and a 2010 kitchen calendar for those who proved the purchase of a minimum of 5 kilos (about 11 pounds) of U.S. pork.
Mexico’s fourth-largest retailer, Chedraui, participated in a similar promotion with 46 of its supermarkets in eastern and southern Mexico. The promotion moved a total of nearly 2.4 million pounds of U.S. pork, an increase of almost 143,000 pounds (6.3 percent) over last year. The cuts targeted for promotion at Chedraui were bone-in and boneless pork loins, pork kabobs, pork steak and chopped pork.
Commercial Mexicana joined with USMEF on a promotion at 82 of its stores in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Queretero, Leon, Veracruz, Puebla and Merida. Product demonstrators and calendar give-aways helped Comercial Mexicana sell more than 337,000 pounds of U.S. pork during the holiday season period – an increase of 8.56 percent or 26,581 pounds more than the same time in 2008.
The goal was slightly different at 30 S-Mart retailers in northern Mexico (Ciudad Juarez and Monterrey), where beef is strongly preferred to pork. The holiday season promotion there aimed to introduce new consumers to U.S. pork to help develop product familiarity and future interest. The results were unexpectedly significant with total pork sales at about 2.4 million pounds during the promotion representing a 56 percent jump compared to the prior year.
“These promotions were part of a broader concerted effort to promote U.S. pork during the time leading up to and through the Christmas and New Year celebrations,” said Russell. “While it has been a strong year for U.S. pork in Mexico, there are still opportunities for growth that we continue to target.”
In 2009, Mexico was the top volume market for U.S. pork exports. The U.S. sold about 504,000 metric tons (1.11 billion pounds) of pork valued at more than $760 million – a 27 percent jump in volume and 10 percent increase in value over 2008.
# # #
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.