For many years, Japan has been the value pacesetter for U.S. pork exports. Exports to this market first cracked the $1 billion barrier in 2005, and have exceeded $1.5 billion in each of the past three years. But when December export totals are available, 2011 will be by far the best year ever. Exports are running nearly 20 percent above the 2010 pace, and strong December results could even push U.S. pork export value beyond the $2 billion mark for the 2011 calendar year.
Because pork commands such a strong price in Japan, it is the No. 1 target of most pork-exporting countries. The United States holds about a 45 percent market share of the imported pork entering Japan, and more than 70 percent of the market for high-quality chilled pork. Yet there is still room for further growth in Japan, as U.S. pork accounts for about 20 percent of Japan’s total consumption when domestic pork is included.
Dan Halstrom is USMEF senior vice president for marketing and communications. Halstrom just returned from a conference with the USMEF marketing staff in Tokyo, and discusses some of the recent keys to success for U.S. pork in the attached audio report. Halstrom explains the USMEF marketing initiatives that have been particularly effective for both chilled and frozen pork in Japan, as well as for pork used for further processing.
TRANSCRIPT:
Joe Schuele: This is Joe Schuele with the U.S. Meat Export Federation report. U.S. pork exports to Japan soared to new heights in 2011. When December results are available, pork export value to Japan could push past the $2 billion mark. Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for marketing and communications, discusses some of the recent keys to success for U.S. pork in this market.
Dan Halstrom: We’ve had several initiatives going on in 2011 that have seen a lot of success. One is our value-added chilled pork initiative, with several different U.S. suppliers breaking into not only retail but also foodservice, with these micro-brand chilled pork lines. The advantage on chilled pork always is that it’s a 52-week-a-year business and lot of our European competition and South American competition cannot go chilled to Japan. In addition to that, on the product side, we’re seeing additional demand for tenderloins, loins, CT butts, bellies – these sorts of things. Some of the newer things on the horizon that we’re going to focus on in 2012 from a merchandising standpoint include a new line of pulled pork products – the barbecue notion with pulled pork seems to be getting some traction from some of our channels, which would be brand new for U.S. pork. So that’s just one example of a new initiative that we’re working on. One last sector that we’re really focused on, for both chilled and frozen, is the convenience store bento box sector – the big one being 7-11, which over 13,000 stores in Japan. We’re seeing continued focus on this sector just from the sheer generic growth of the convenience store sector in Japan.
Joe Schuele: Pork used for further processing is also a key export item for the U.S. industry, and Halstrom says USMEF has been active on that front as well.
Dan Halstrom: We had a further process initiative in 2011 that focused more on the middle-sized further processors, which went very well. We saw a significant increase from some of the middle-sized players that were typically more domestic-origin pork before. We’ll continue to work in that segment as well in 2012.
Source: USMEF