How To Export Pork

A Guide to Exporting Pork
Introduction
The United States has become a world premium producer and exporter of pork. The outlook for U.S. pork exports is being enhanced through multilateral and regional trade agreements. Opportunities to capitalize on these agreements require detailed knowledge of export procedures. Because you are reading this guide, it indicates your interest in exporting.There are some questions you must ask yourself so that you can determine the direction you want to go. Is your firm "export-ready?" Does your firm have what it takes to commit fully to international marketing? Do you possess the necessary financial and staff resources? Have I been successfully marketing pork in the U.S. domestic market? Success breeds success. Success (financial, market share,product development, etc.) in the domestic market place is the best indicator of success in overseas marketing, although we know these are entirely different markets. If you have been successful on the domestic market, this is a good start and you might be successful exporting. This document is meant to give you an overview of the differences in these two very different markets, and how to approachoverseas opportunities. Do I have sufficient production capacity to commit to export markets? Am I committed to providing a high level of service to meet my export customers’ requirements? Do I have the resources to support my export efforts? How involved do I want to be in the export effort? Is your firm's competitiveness based solely on price? Price is important, but in international marketsother factors count: reliability, flexibility, quality, payment terms and after-sales service. Do you have a firm grasp of where your industry is going - not just domestically but globally? In the global market place change occurs rapidly. To stay competitive exporting firms need to be very aware of what is happening in their industry worldwide. Honest frank answers to the above should help youassess to some extent how good your company's prospects for sustained success in international marketing. And, hopefully, it will help you get a better idea of what you need to consider as you move forward. Your pork business cannot ignore that exports are crucial to America’s pork industry’s economic well being. An international business plan is necessary, now that you’ve decided to enter the exportmarket. Creating a business plan is important in defining your present status, future goals and objectives, identifies constraints. The business plan creates an action plan and timetable that allows you to measure success. There are several ways to get your product into the export market. A large portion of pork is sold either by processors, who have their agents overseas, or to domestic buyerswho represent foreign customers and export the product themselves. A producer therefore does not have to deal with the complexities of setting up product distribution. Nevertheless, many companies for a variety of reasons are choosing to export directly.

So, how do you identify markets? Most companies use either the Shotgun Approach or the Focused Approach to identifying their internationalmarket. Shotgun Approach - Many companies that are new to the international market place use this approach because they feel it won't require a great deal of their time to research the markets. They indiscriminately send information to countries throughout the world and then see if this generates inquiries. The shotgun approach is not very effective. It actually takes more resources to reply toinquiries from prospects scattered around the globe, than to research the world market and concentrate resources on three to five markets. In the shotgun approach, a great deal of time is spent on wild goose chases. Focused Approach - is a cost effective and efficient method for a company to find markets with the greatest potential. Most of the information needed to make intelligent decisions on...