Costco shoppers sampled Johnsonville sausages, SPAM products, Stagg Chili and Hormel bacon crumbles in a series of promotions in 2021 to show consumers that although U.S. pork has limited access to Australia, high quality, value-added U.S. pork products are available.

With funding from USDA and the National Pork Board, the U.S. Meat Export Federation coordinated in-store food samples, supporting materials and promotional content in Costco's customer magazine and website.

While in-store product sampling was sometimes limited due to COVID restrictions, both companies involved reported sharp increases in sales during the promotions.

Australia maintains strict limits on pork imports from the United States, allowing only heat-processed pork and frozen pork imported for further processing.

"Despite the restrictions U.S. pork faces in Oceania, we're finding ways to get value-added products into the region and going beyond raw material for further processing," says USMEF-ASEAN Director Sabrina Yin. "And we saw Australian consumers embracing the U.S. pork products we can offer in the region."

As COVID restrictions loosen, USMEF plans to expand the demos in 2022 with a possible extension into New Zealand.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.