With capital and infrastructure growing in Russia and Poland, so too are oppo...

With capital and infrastructure growing in Russia and Poland, so too are opportunities for U.S. pork. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) recently led a 10-day trip to the European Union that included stops in Russia and Poland for National Pork Board members, to gain market information, identify prospects for U.S. pork and observe USMEF in action.

“The trip was a great opportunity to experience different cultures along with their eating and farming habits,” said Craig Mensink, Minnesota Pork Board promotion chairman. “As incomes continue to rise in Russia and Poland, there is an opportunity to increase U.S. pork exports to this region.”

The group toured a large-scale hog processing facility in Russia that has 67,500 pigs and produces 11,500 metric tons (mt) of pork annually. The same facility also grows grain, raises cattle, runs a dairy operation and provides schooling, housing and healthcare for its 950 employees.

Team members observed sausage and deli meat production, cold storage and slaughter activities at a processing plant in Moscow that produces over 200 different types of processed meat destined for sale at local retail stores.

“There are great opportunities for U.S. pork, especially for cuts not in demand in the United States. All sausage production uses lesser-demand cuts, so this is a great market to expand into,” said Mark Gebben, owner of Gebbens Ham Land in Casey, Ill.

A weekday visit to a Moscow retail store, where shoppers were seen buying sausages from the production facility just visited, demonstrated to team members the growing strength of the Russian economy.

The team also saw USMEF point-of-sale materials designed to increase consumer awareness of U.S. pork attributes at a St. Petersburg retail store. Posters directed shoppers to the meat case, and recipes helped consumers with selection and cooking of the U.S. pork products on display.

Exports of U.S. pork and pork variety meat to Russia in the first six months of this year have increased 153 percent in volume to 21,322 mt over the same period last year while value increased 210 percent to $36.7 million.

Touring a processing facility in Warsaw, team members learned of the challenges facing the Polish hog industry. Small-scale hog production constrains the hog supply, and about 3 million hogs are slaughtered annually by farmers for their own consumption.

This has prompted plant managers to work with farmers to increase hog production. There are 1.4 million farms registered in Poland, but only 20 percent produce more than 2,000 hogs annually. The two largest meat production plants produce 30 percent of total meat production while the rest comes from small and medium-sized companies.

Most large-scale hog production is in the western part of Poland while most meat plants are in the eastern part closer to the Russian border to supply the former Soviet Union when Poland was under Soviet influence.

“Europe is a different market from other traditional markets, such as Asia and Mexico, we have already visited,” said Dallas Hockman, National Pork Board vice president of demand enhancement. “Poland is going to be a difficult market due to infrastructure, but there is opportunity for value-added U.S. pork products.”

The team started the trip in Brussels by meeting with USDA Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) representatives for an overview on agriculture policy, animal welfare and market conditions in the European Union.

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 –

The following photos are available with this release.

Photo 1 – National Pork Board members begin a tour of a small, family-owned hog farm in Poland. Many small farms are in their infancy in supplying hogs for large-scale production plants.

Photo 2 – A Russian store clerk restocks the sausage supply in the meat case. Team members observed retail conditions and consumer trends in Russia and Poland.

Photo 3 – National Pork Board members toured a newly constructed slaughter and processing facility at a Russian hog farm outside of Moscow.