USDA-FAS Highlights Efforts to Expand U.S. Pork’s Presence in Chile

In a press release, USDA-FAS highlights efforts to increase U.S. pork exports to Chile, including the official launch of a new partnership between Hormel Foods and Chilean distributor Nutrisco during a recent USDA trade mission.

The partnership was years in the making and serves as a good example of how USMEF partners with FAS in international markets, says USMEF South America Representative Jessica Julca.

“We work with FAS posts throughout South America to identify market opportunities and potential partnerships between U.S. suppliers and local importers,” says Julca.

USDA-FAS had begun a series of virtual trade missions during the pandemic to promote U.S. food and agricultural products in South America. Meanwhile, a USMEF evaluation of export data in 2021 revealed small volumes of value-added U.S. products entering the region, a finding that was validated in discussions with FAS posts in South America. USMEF responded by publishing a value-added directory of U.S. suppliers in 2021, which was distributed to South American importers.

USMEF then supplemented USDA’s virtual trade missions with virtual business-to-business (B2B) meetings between South American importers and the U.S. suppliers listed in USMEF’s directory, which led to the Hormel-Nutrisco connection.

“We knew discussions were taking place between the two companies so in early 2023 we included Nutrisco on the South America retail team that we led to the American Meat Conference, which we asked Hormel to attend,” Julca says. “We also encouraged Hormel to participate in the USDA Trade Mission to Chile this fall and that is when they officially announced the partnership with Nutrisco.”

She adds that USDA-FAS support is crucial to growing business for U.S. products in South America. USDA trade missions expand the U.S. presence in the region, are a tangible demonstration of U.S. interest in the markets and help smooth over regulatory issues that may develop.