How Convenience Store Snacks and TikTok are Heating Up U.S. Pork Sales to Mexico
Gerardo Rodriguez will never forget the day he watched the customer in front of him at the convenience store purchase a Coke and Twinkies. Not only was it an expensive snack, but it wasn’t the healthiest one either. He couldn’t help but think the pork industry could create a better snack option.
In his role as director of marketing for Mexico with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), Rodriguez is always looking for ways to create more opportunity for U.S. pork in Mexico. He met with a research and development company to start coming up with ideas to use pork ham in a new way.
“We found out that pork ham, when dehydrated and seasoned with different flavors, could be a great snack option for convenience stores,” Rodrigeuz says. “Compare a bag of Twinkies to a bag of these products coming from protein – nothing compares to the health value difference. Most of the products that are being sold in convenience stores are not very healthy, so we’re trying to find a way to create some better options for consumers.”
This new innovation, the CarniSnack, continues to grow in popularity. Now that more of these snacks are being sold, the price point has come down, he adds.
“We want to develop this product to be more than just a snack for the weekends. We are looking into creating more ways to use this product in dishes from Monday to Thursday,” Rodriguez says. “This is the next step we are following in regard to this product – we want to have as many options and uses in a daily basis if possible.”
Moving Beyond a Price-Driven Market
This is just one example of how USMEF is trying to develop and launch new ways of selling pork in Mexico. In 2019, the U.S. exported 708,133 metric tons of pork to Mexico whereas the U.S. exported 688,253 metric tons in 2020. This 2.8% drop in comparison with 2019 can be attributed to several factors, Rodriguez says.
“It’s certainly a price-driven market. And in the case of pork products, more than 50% of the imports of U.S. pork to Mexico are bone-in hams,” he says. “We have been experiencing a lot of changes in the markets, especially last year.”
One of the things USMEF is trying to do is move away from the commodity sector environment where price drives the decision every time.
“I think the industry is ready to move forward from that market,” he says. “That is why we have been working to develop value-added products coming from U.S. pork, especially hams. We want to move away from being a commodity used as a raw material for other products.”
Lockdown Spurs New Purchasing Behavior
Today’s consumer in Mexico has become more educated about what they are going to purchase, Rodriguez says. Consumers research products before they make purchases due to an increasing use of technology.
“We have to work in different ways regarding not only sharing that you can buy the products here and what products you can buy, but also developing information and education so that the consumer can learn about it,” he says.
In addition, the gap between the value of the proteins and the purchasing power of the Mexican consumer is widening, Rodriguez explains.
Promoting Pure Pork
One of the trends taking place in Mexico is more importers and processors are enhancing pork products. In Mexico, however, the percentage of liquid injected into the pork is not regulated.
“When you start increasing the amount of water or marination in a product such as these, you start losing the real products, you start losing the bite, the taste, the flavor, everything,” Rodriguez says.
USMEF is working with leaders in the country to develop Pure Pork. This is simply pork that’s not manipulated, marinated, enhanced or injected.
“It’s the way pork should be,” he adds. “Unfortunately, people are starting to get used to that flavor, and not realizing the taste and the bite or pure pork.”
The goal of the Pure Pork program is to make sure the next generation understands and develops an appreciation for quality pork. They are launching this pilot program with Costco stores nationwide.
“We are developing premium strategies and activities with Costco that nobody else has in the market. So, if you want to join these types of activities and promotions and strategies, sell pork the same as Costco. Sell the product the way it should be sold – pure pork,” Rodriguez says.
If it’s not going to be possible to mandate government regulation about the labeling and the amount of water added in the product, Rodriguez says they will focus on the strategy they implement in the market.
Meeting Consumers Where They Are
USMEF offers an app that allows customers to take training courses, attend seminars and utilize promotion strategies. They are also encouraging the people to buy products through the app in an effort to build a more educated community of consumers that they can target information and messages to, he explains.
They are even launching gaming in their app to target the next generation and have been utilizing platforms such as TikTok to spread the word about U.S. pork in Mexico. He says the COVID-19 pandemic definitely caused them to make these shifts more quickly.
“We moved from early in the first quarter of 2020 from sampling promotions in Walmart stores. Now we are providing educational content in a TikTok so they can buy product through the USMEF app.
That’s a big change in the last 15 months,” he says. “And this is much bigger than just selling pork through one channel or one store.”
We will be uniting together June 7-13 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek21 to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
More from Farm Journal's PORK:
Economists Call Out Game Changers in the Pork Outlook
Farm Journal Live: World Pork Expo is Back!
