U.S. Pork in Shanghai Supermarkets and on China's Shopping Websites

The allure of China as a bright future for U.S. pork exports is brightest in Shanghai, a teeming city of 23 million (2010). USMEF is working to establish U.S. pork in Shanghai's burgeoning retail sector. In June, U.S. pork debuted in the meat cases of supermarket chains Metro, Sam’s club and RT-Mart. USMEF conducted in-store promotions in five Metro supermarkets in Shanghai, and the distributer reported a 10-fold increase in sales totaling 1.8 metric tons, surpassing their No. 1 seller, frozen Australian beef, and helping USMEF's goal to improve Chinese perceptions of U.S. pork

ICS Shanghai interviewed consumers and USMEF's Joel Haggard

On June 19, USMEF celebrated U.S. pork's entry into Shanghai's retail sector with a U.S. “Anxin” pork media event in the Metro supermarket chain's demo kitchen. The word, Anxin, means safe, worry-free, an integral part of USMEF's work in assuring consumers U.S. pork is safe and well-regulated. In cooperation with the Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai, USMEF invited twenty print and television reporters from Sina, Shanghai Hotline, Durian net (an online chef community), Tudou (a popular video network in China) and ICS Shanghai (foreign-language cable channel). Staff from USMEF member JBS, Shanghai Jiangsu Sushi Meat Sales Company, JBS' importer, and Metro attended.

U.S. pork is already available from popular E-shops such as Tmall, yhd.com and yiguo.com and is headed for China's famous OCJ shopping channel. China has 130 million residential broadband accounts, and online shopping is growing in China, totaling $190 billion in 2012 and is forecast to reach $650 billion by 2020. One industry analyst predicts online shopping will be 30 percent of all retail sales in China in five years. USMEF conducted a 10-day long promotion with e-commerce distributor Zheng Pu, a staunch supporter of U.S. pork.

USMEF Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific Joel Haggard briefly introduced USMEF, U.S. pork production, U.S. pork safety and simple cooking techniques. Renowned chef Paulo Chen of Metro demonstrated how to cook a traditional Chinese roast pork dish, Chashao, with U.S. bone-in pork butt, which is already on sale at Metro. Chef Chen also cooked a simple but delicious stir-fried pork dish as an illustration of U.S. pork's versatility.

USMEF brought the journalists to see U.S. pork on sale in a Metro supermarket where they interviewed consumers who purchased U.S. pork after sampling it in the store. One told them that U.S. pork was of superior quality and that consumers were taking quality more seriously now than in times past.

The reporters were suitably impressed by the U.S. pork dishes and consumer enthusiasm for them, and positive stories about U.S. pork entering the retail sector in Shanghai soon followed. The event was part of USMEF's promotion of the image of U.S. pork brands with Chinese consumers. Promoting branded U.S. pork in supermarkets is part of USMEF's long-term marketing efforts in China.