ISA Leaders Learn in Mexico

ISA supports the efforts of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC).  A group of Illinois soybean farmer leaders are in Mexico to learn more about how soybean checkoff investments are building market demand in Mexico.

Studying U.S. Pork Sales in Mexico

Nicole Boettger, ISA Animal Agriculture Lead

After arrival on Sunday night, we received our briefings.  We learned about the "Build Pork Demand Campaign," about the overall market situation for U.S. pork exports, and the foundational research and basic elements of the USMEF campaign.

  

ISA farmers set out early Monday to see and observe firsthand the target market in Mexico, women ages 25-45, and to understand how much U.S. pork is in the market.  Our first stop was to meet with wholesalers at Calle 7, a traditional wet market.   

 

Next, we followed the pork back to the processing companies of Alimentos EFA and Sigma.  We learned how U.S. pork plays a very important role in the overall makeup of most pork products served in Mexico. We had a great chance to visit with one of owners and he shared his thank you for ISA's support of the Build Pork Demand Campaign.

On our travel, we were able to see one of the many bus stop ads (see photo).  Next we saw traditional retail wet markets, the most utilized by the target market.  Our day wrapped up with stops at the number retailer in Mexico, Chedraui.  We observed a sampling session that was part of the overall campaign strategy.  At Costco, we saw the highest end of the target market's buying habits.  

Reaching the Mexican Target Market

Nicole Boettger, ISA Animal Agriculture Lead

On the next day of our trip, ISA directors learned how USMEF uses ratings and demographics to invest checkoff dollars in pacing media ads for the target market.  We had the opportunity to tour the Azteca studio and see the live TV mention during a popular Mexican morning show.   As nearly everyone in Mexico has a TV, this is very complimentary to our TV commercials and other integrated advertising.

Next we visited with USMEF Chef Max, just after he had finished a seven-minute live radio interview with a popular radio host at "Radio Centro."  Chef Max is not only a trained chef, but also a medical doctor.  He covered the health and benefits of eating pork as part of a healthy diet.

We spent the afternoon switching gears to the USAPEEC portion of the trip with a short briefing from Greg Tyler, USAPEEC vice president of marketing.  We had excellent dialogue with their National Poultry Producers Council, "UNA," where the group not only talked about poultry exports, but also asked one of our top soybean customers about quality and related issues.

The evening was capped off with dinner with our USMEF and USAPEEC staff hosts.  We were joined by some great supporters of agriculture from the U.S. ag trade office and U.S. Embassy.

The group photo includes several ISA representatives, Chad Russell with USMEF and Greg Tyler, Jose Luis Cruz and Alma Lilia de Leon with USAPEEC.  Fabiola McClellan from the ag trade office and Erik Hanson, Adam Branson and Dan Berman from the Embassy.