Consumers in the United States get so many free plastic bags as they shop tha...
Consumers in the United States get so many free plastic bags as they shop that they throw them away by the thousands.
Not so in Russia. Plastic bags are, if not a luxury, then an at least an expensive and respected necessity for Russian consumers, who use and reuse them until they are worn out.
For this reason, U.S. Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) Director for Europe, Russia and the Middle East Richard Ali chose the not-so-humble plastic bag for a promotion with pork processors in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russians’ attitude toward plastic bags gave USMEF a useful means of advertising U.S. pork in retail outlets and a way to extend the life of the advertising as long as the consumer used the bag. To maximize the benefits of this marketing idea, bags were produced with the U.S. pork logo on one side of the bag and a logo from a Russian processor on the reverse. Co-identifying U.S. pork with a familiar Russian product eases consumer apprehension over imported foods and gives the processor a worthwhile promotional item to pass on to the supermarket.
Putting its logo on the bag also meant the processor had to tell its customers that the company uses U.S. pork. Russian processors are reluctant to let consumers know that they’re not using domestic meat, while USMEF is convinced that advertising that U.S. pork is used in the product is a good thing. Consumers will like what they eat and remember the U.S. ingredient.
The promotion was completed in December 2001. In total, USMEF produced 170,000 plastic bags that were distributed to four plants in Moscow and four plants and one distributor in St. Petersburg. All of the plants, in turn, distributed the bags to their customers, reaching well over 1,200 outlets. This public relations promotion proved extremely successful and greatly helps USMEF build on the U.S. pork identity being created in the market.
USMEF’s strategy in marketing U.S. pork has generally been to “sell the sizzle.” The reputation of U.S. pork’s quality around the world has always been and remains the cornerstone of our promotions. But another fundamental of USMEF’s success is flexibility and this means assessing the best approach for every market and each sector of the individual market. USMEF and the U.S. industry would like to sell more pork products, including pork variety meats to Russia’s processors. Sausage makers in Russia are of paramount importance since most meat eaten by Russian consumers is in the form of sausage. It is hard to sell the sizzle to Russian sausage makers. What they want first and foremost is a low price.
Historically, the main competitor in this market has been the European Union (EU) which benefited from subsidies (thus lower prices), shorter distances to ship (thus lower freight costs) and freer credit policies. However, the entry into the Russian market by Brazilian shippers, who have benefited from their own severe currency weakness has affected EU shipments of pork sides. Indeed, such is the low value of the Brazilian Real that Brazilian products prefer to export to Russia (where payment is in dollars) than sell on the domestic market. This has made Brazil a force to be reckoned with as it climbs to number one spot on the back of its own economic problems at home.
Because of Russia’s recovering economy, price is the driving factor in purchases of pork. Many Russian importers and distributors are hesitant to handle U.S. pork because they believe it will not be profitable. Russia’s processing sector operates on a very thin margin and is constantly on the lookout for low-cost input materials. USMEF is constantly on the watch for chances to educate importers and distributors about less expensive cuts of U.S. pork and pork products that can be profitably utilized in the processing sector.
Freer credit policies would increase U.S. sales to Russia, but to compete against the Europeans and latterly the Brazilians, we must capitalize on our own particular strengths. USMEF is working to convince Russian processors that the U.S. can provide a superior pork product, year-round consistency of supply, uniform products from uniform animals, a wide range of products and mixed loads to help with commercial demands.
Educational activities are a key component of USMEF’s strategy to increase sales of U.S. pork to buyers and processors. A recent seminar focusing on underutilized pork cuts organized by USMEF’s St. Petersburg manager Anna Puzyrevskaya, and conducted by USMEF Pork Consultant Monty Brown in St. Petersburg illustrates USMEF strategies. This “U.S. Pork: Maximize Your Profit” seminar was attended by more than 40 Russian importers and processors who were introduced to a range of less-expensive U.S. pork items (such as tongue root, head meat, jowls and cheek meat, diaphragm skirt, shank, blade, hearts, liver, kidney and temple meat). Many of these items are popular in the Russian market, but prior to the seminar few buyers thought to turn to the U.S. for them. USMEF seminars provide attendees with an opportunity to view the products and receive fresh perspectives on using them. Every attending company receives a full packet of information about U.S. pork, quality and safety standards and a list of U.S. pork producers and exporters. A similar seminar is planned for Moscow in the spring.
Attendees are added to the subscription list of USMEF’s Russian Buyers newsletter, which is prepared and distributed to 4,150 potential Russian buyers on a bi-monthly basis. A copy of the publication is also placed on the Russian Meat Market website.
In the first eleven months of 2001, U.S. pork (including variety meats) exports to Russia totaled 30,302 metric tons (mt), 182 percent higher than the same period in 2000, and were valued at $42.4 million, a 220 percent increase.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation 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, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.
-- USMEF --