January 28, 2005

US pork consumption up in Russia with recent promotion

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is eyeing the increasing numbers of Russian diners in its month-long festival promoting U.S. pork at restaurants in three five-star hotels and at six other top restaurants in St. Petersburg, Russia, USMEF said in a news release.

The November festival was held in cooperation with retail supplier Grand Foods.

There were educational seminars for restaurant chefs and service staff as well as an advertising campaign to inform consumers about the U.S. pork promotion, USMEF said.

USMEF said its support of the festival resulted in all restaurants keeping U.S. pork dishes on their menus after the promotion. Sales also went up by seven times during the promotion and three times thereafter compared to pre-promotion levels, USMEF said.

A survey was conducted to determine Russian consumer perceptions of U.S. pork and that the information will be used for market research and follow-up, USMEF said.

The promotion, funded by the U.S. pork program and USDA's Market Access Program, included introducing chefs to new dishes made with U.S. pork.

USMEF said U.S. pork exports to Russia in the first 11 months of 2004 were up 305% in volume at 20,933 metric tons, compared to 5,172 tons in the same period of the previous year. For November, the latest month for which figures are available, export volume increased almost 10 times at 7,378 tons compared to the previous year's 751 tons. These figures exclude variety meats since the promotion featured U.S. pork chops and loin cuts.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn, sorghum and soybean check off programs.