Costco in Mexico is expanding sales of U.S. beef and pork to foodservice clientele so recently the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has been training sales staff on the needs of restaurant and resort chefs, says John Herath for USMEF. Support from USDA, the Beef Checkoff Program and the National Pork Board have helped with those efforts. USMEF Mexico corporate chef German Navarrete shares more details.
“Costco is a very important partner for USMEF because they only carry U.S. beef and pork,” Navarrete says. “When people go to their stores, they knew they will find this very high quality and consistent product that they are looking for, and that’s exactly what U.S. beef and pork provide.”
Navarette says they have points of sale all over the country so seminars focus not only on people who walk into the stores, but also on how to approach restaurants and hotels who also offer a array of U.S. beef and pork products.
“We carried out some seminars in order to train their sales force so that they know, not only the products, but how can it apply to restaurants and hotels and all of the different dishes that they can produce with all these different cuts that they have in their portfolio,” he says.
Seminars focus on equipment, target market and cooking methods.
“By training sales personnel as to the best cooking methods for each piece, they can approach the customers in this regard,” Navarette says. “We talk about cooking, not only cooking methods, but also the kind of equipment that they use at restaurants and hotels. So they know and they are aware of it, and they can recommend the best product for the best results.”
U.S. pork exports to Mexico are reaching new heights in 2024, USMEF reports. Through October, exports totaled nearly 950,000 metric tons, up 6% from last year’s record pace, valued at $2.1 billion (up 11%). Beef exports increased 13% to 193,000 metric tons, while value climbed 15% to $1.12 billion.
