Photo courtesy of Envato Elements
From staff reports
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have announced that after many years of negotiations, U.S. pork is now eligible for export to India.
Monty Brown, a representative of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, has conducted market research in India, and met with prospective buyers of U.S. pork and identified opportunities in the retail, processing and foodservice sectors.
He said those he spoke with in India were primarily interested in bone-in cuts, especially a six-piece bone-in carcass.
“I know many times the U.S. industry may frown on producing this kind of product, but this ought to be something we look at today, especially with our labor problems in the packing plants,” Brown said. “They also purchase quite a bit of bone-in loin ribs. That may be something interesting for us. I also think there may be opportunities there for bone-in Boston butt.”
Brown added that there has been strong demand for pork products on the e-commerce side, with some sales increased as much as four-fold.
“Because of the spread of the country, and the cost of bricks and mortar, that’s where I think e-commerce is going to win,” Brown said. “It’s really early days still. I think we can slowly develop the business, but I wouldn’t expect huge volumes right away. I think this is a market where we need to develop the relationships, get it working well, don’t get too excited about the numbers, keep building the trade, and we then we’ll go along and help the importer develop the trade for the U.S. products when it’s there.”
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack touted the potential of the market in India to members of the American Farm Bureau Federation during their annual convention last week in Atlanta. Rural Strong Media’s Tractors and Troubadours podcast will have highlights from that address on Episode 10, coming this Friday to www.ruralstrongmedia.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Deezer, Audible and Audacy.