Two Activities in Colombia Promote U.S. Pork Cuts

To strengthen relationships with major U.S. pork importers in Colombia, USMEF organized a pair of events in the Colombian city of Cali to educate foodservice and retail professionals about the advantages of U.S. pork. A pork cuts seminar for clients of Alimentos Carbel and an origin differentiation workshop for the Olimpica supermarket chain were funded by the Pork Checkoff.

Cali-based Alimentos Carbel invited 44 decision makers from 15 of its foodservice accounts in the region. The seminar focused on pork applications for regional restaurants and featured an overview of the U.S. pork industry. It highlighted U.S. pork cuts that have great potential in the market: brisket bones, boneless loin, St. Louis ribs, boneless and bone-in ham and belly.

USMEF chef Nicolas Diaz prepared U.S. pork crown roast, slow-cooked bellies and pulled pork made from ham.

Retailer Olimpica, headquartered in Barranquilla, Colombia, has 334 stores and holds about a 23 percent retail share in the country.

“In 2016, Olimpica imported 2,128 metric tons of pork, and almost 80 percent was imported from the U.S.,” said Jessica Julca, USMEF South America representative.

Seven stores were chosen to begin the origin differentiation project, and USMEF printed 16,000 labels to identify U.S. pork cuts — boneless loin (portioned), bone-in loin (portioned in chops), boneless ham and St. Louis ribs — on their shelves. “Giving consumers the opportunity to easily find and identify U.S. pork products in the stores is an important step toward increasing sales,” explained Julca.

“It goes hand-in-hand with USMEF’s efforts to educate consumers. When shoppers go to the meat department, they see the label identifying U.S. pork, and they are reminded of our tastings and other promotions