The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has revealed that growing demand for pig meat in Latin America will present British exporters with “major business opportunities”.
AHDB embarked on a trade mission to Mexico and Colombia to gain further insight into these specific markets.
Mexico is one of the world’s biggest pork importers. Pork is the second most consumed meat in the country and consumption is expected to grow, said AHDB. Last year, the Mexican market for British pig meat opened further to include offals with a potential estimated value of £18 million over the first five years of trade. It came two years after the Mexican market opened for British pork for the first time.
AHDB’s trade mission included participating in Expo Carnes y Lácteos in Monterrey, Mexico, where they joined more than 400 exhibitors at the event to showcase British produce and provide the chance to sample pork offal dishes prepared by a chef on the stand. AHDB also took a group of exporters to meet with major supply chain stakeholders in Colombia.
Colombia is a net importer of pig meat and a market where domestic production supplies around 75% of the consumption. Despite an anticipated increase in domestic production, it is not expected to keep up with demand.
“We anticipate further opportunities for British pig meat exporters to maximise carcase value.”
Susana Morris, AHDB
Susana Morris, AHDB senior trade development manager, said: “Mexico is already an important market for British pig meat exports, with almost half of the pig meat consumed in the country being imported. We anticipate further opportunities for British pig meat exporters to maximise carcase value and look forward to working with them to help reap the benefits of trading with Mexico.
“Expo Carnes y Lácteos is Mexico’s most important exhibition for the industry. The exhibition attracts buyers not only from Mexico but from other parts of Latin America, illustrating the opportunities for UK pig meat exports in the wider region.
“Following some research AHDB conducted on Colombia, we identified that it could also present opportunities for us to export product at a future date. As we were already planning to take part in Expo Carnes y Lácteos in Mexico it was an ideal opportunity while in the region for us to organise a trade mission to Colombia to gain further insight into trends in the market which our exporters could benefit from.”
