Latin American buyers get insight into U.S. pork, beef processing
Delegation also toured processing plants operated by Certified Piedmontese and Wholestone Prestage.
September 3, 2024
With support from the National Corn Growers Association and the South Dakota Soybean Checkoff, the U.S. Meat Export Federation brought importers from Mexico and Central and South America to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a global meat processing seminar. They also had an opportunity to meet with industry leaders, including USMEF Secretary/ Treasurer Dave Bruntz, a farmer and cattle feeder from Friend, Nebraska.
"It's good to make these relationships," Bruntz said. "Most of these countries represented here are from Mexico down through Central America - good trading partners. You know, if we can't trade with our neighbors, who are we got to trade with? Glad to have them here on the University of Nebraska campus."
The seminar went way beyond the classroom as the buyer teams also took to the meat lab to explore new product development ideas. This was a highlight for Columbian importer Valery Ways.
"We had a workshop where we were presented a problem and we had to develop a strategy and a solution right there and then and get to work," Ways said. "So it was definitely the part that I enjoyed the most, was the workshop, and that really broadened my mind to see what else we can invent, what else we can create to better our customer experience and to better our business as well."
The delegation also made retail visits and toured processing plants operated by Certified Piedmontese and Wholestone Prestage. Chilean importer Jose Manuel Jarpa was already a Wholestone Prestage customer, but the plant tour solidified his confidence in their products.
"We purchased some containers of spareribs from Wholestone like in January this year. We thought that the product was spectacular. It stood for our business like 100%, so today in the visit, I am amazed about this plant. Like this facility is awesome," said Jarpa. "The people working here, the quality of the products, they really have the whole package. So I'm very confident that this commercial relationship with Wholestone through USMEF is going to be long term, and we are really happy that we can work with them."
Read more about:
PorkAbout the Author
You May Also Like