Meatingplace.com reports that Aurora Alimentos will be the first Brazilian processor to export pork to the United States. Florida is the final destination for the first shipment which is heading out of Santa Catarina state today.
According to Meatingplace:
The U.S. opened its pork market to Brazil in 2012 and Aurora's plant, in the city of Chapecó, was approved in September of that year. More than two years have passed since then because of complications over the need for export production registration by USDA, said Dilvo Casagranda, general manager of foreign trade.
Access to the American market is not easy: Beyond the strict sanitary requirements, the country is a major producer of pork. But there is an opportunity for products with bone, especially ribs and loin, Casagranda said, with the most promising segment seen as fast food and restaurant demand.
Two 40-foot containers with capacity of 25 metric tons each have been sold so far, with one destined for the Everglades Port in Florida this week. The first 40-foot container will include primarily pork rib and loin, while the second container going to another client in December will include 25 tons of rib, loin, rib tip and other cuts.
