Japan continues to be the leading value market for US pork.
At this month?s US Meat Export Federation Strategic Planning Conference, USMEF vice president of marketing Jesse Austin updated pork producers and exporters on two product categories that are critical to US pork’s success in Japan ? chilled pork and ground seasoned pork.
?We look at the year-to-date situation and total chilled imports into Japan are up two percent,? Austin said. ?US chilled pork volume is off slightly at one percent below last year, while Canada has actually increased three percent year-over-year. We still hold the largest market share in chilled pork to Japan, currently around 48 percent.?
USMEF has upcoming promotions planned with both national and regional retailers aimed at further solidifying the United States’ position as Japan’s leading chilled pork supplier. Austin says Japan is an outstanding market for US ground seasoned pork (GSP), which is derived mainly from boneless picnics.
?We represent roughly 73 percent of the market share in the GSP business,? Austin said. ?That?s a significant jump from 53 percent a year ago. Sixty percent of processed pork in Japan is arabiki style sausages. Sales are up for this product line. What?s driving this is the retail surge that we?ve seen globally, this trend towards convenience products.?
?An important point on GSP that we need to continue to watch,? Austin added, ?September imports of GSP from all of our competitors was the largest we?ve seen since October 2019.?
Austin noted the playing field was leveled this year through the implementation of the US-Japan Trade Agreement. For more information, visit usmef.org.
