ISA partners with USMEF for first Red Meat Symposium in Mexico 

By Steve Phares, ISA Board Director
Ed Ebert, Senior Market Development Director of ISA and ICMC

Mexico has long been a key market for U.S. pork with a focus on hams and other product for further processing, but strong growth in retail and foodservice have sent demand for U.S. red meat into overdrive in 2024. That’s why the Indiana Soybean Alliance partnered with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) to host the first-ever U.S. Red Meat Symposium in Mexico. 

The symposium, in June in Mexico City, offered a key, face-to-face networking opportunity for U.S. suppliers and Mexican importers. Those U.S. exporters had access to buyers from every corner of Mexico and an opportunity to showcase the quality of American beef, pork and lamb. U.S. companies brought product to Mexico City for the exporters to see and taste in order to appreciate the quality of U.S. red meat. 

Due in large part to decades of free trade, Mexico has built a reputation as a reliable trading partner for U.S. agriculture. But, it should by no means be seen as a mature market. As 2024 has shown, there is still plenty of room for growth, with U.S. pork exports to the country up 7 percent on volume this year and beef exports up 17 percent. 

“I would say that Mexico is still a developing market,” Jonn Slette, the director of USDA’s Agricultural Trade Office in Mexico City told us. “Over 60 percent of Mexicans are still at or below the poverty line and as they move into the middle class. That’s where our growth is going to be,” 

Mexico is a diverse marketplace, with demand for U.S. product growing across a number of sectors. During our visit, we toured Calle 7, a large wet market moving literally every part of the carcass. USMEF is on the ground in that market, and others like it, promoting our product to foodservice managers and other key buyers. 

We also saw U.S. product showcased in very high-end grocery stores in Mexico City, as well as Costco. And USMEF is working with importers to develop new snack products to be featured across the country’s neighborhood convenience stores. 

The Mexican market is eager to expand purchases of U.S. red meat and has shown an ability to find new uses for underutilized cuts in order to contain costs while maintaining the quality of experience their customers have come to expect. The symposium’s Product Showcase Room was packed with buyers who were not only asking about purchases now, but also at any future events. 

These kinds of investments are key to building value for our producers. So far this year, pork exports have been contributing $66.54 per head slaughtered, accounting for more than 30 percent of pork production. In 2023, pork exports accounted for 7.77 million bushels of Indiana soybean usage for a value of $118.95 per acre. 

In addition to the Indiana Soybean Alliance, funding support for the U.S. Red Meat Symposium in Mexico City was provided by the National Pork Board, the Beef Checkoff Program, Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board, Nebraska Beef Council and USDA’s Market Access Program.