Canada’s hog industry leaders are scouting the world for new markets for Canadian pork, but have a hard time taking their gaze from Japan, an already established market.
A dip in Canadian chilled pork exports to Japan last year heightened the industry’s belief that it needs to do more to connect with the appetites and wallets of Japanese consumers.
With 127 million people and the second largest economy in the world, the Japanese market is vitally important, said Julie Baird of the Manitoba Pork Council.
Baird told the annual meeting of the Manitoba Pork Council last week that Canadian pork needs to be branded as distinct, and more emphasis placed on food safety and quality assurance.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
There was a feeling at the meeting that Canada has lagged the United States in its efforts to do that in the Japanese market.
Baird learned how important food safety is to the Japanese while taking part in a trade mission there in March.
“It was mentioned in every meeting we went to.”
She suggested quality assurance should be made mandatory for Canada’s hog industry as a further guarantee to buyers of pork.
Canada’s hog industry has launched a marketing campaign in Japan to convince consumers there that Canadian pork is natural, wholesome and safe. The emphasis is on demonstrating Canada’s healthful environment, with newspaper advertisements using images of pristine wilderness and a golden crop of grain being harvested.
There is a growing number of working mothers in Japan, said Baird, which supports a trend toward people either eating at restaurants more often or wanting quick and easy meals to prepare at home. Chilled pork can be tailored to meet those needs.
“We need to make people aware of the kind of country Canada is and the quality of food it can supply,” Baird said, noting that the effort should be national, not regional.
The U.S. is the leading exporter of chilled pork to Japan, followed by Canada.
Last year, American chilled pork exports to Japan fell to 174,536 tonnes from 195,700 tonnes a year earlier. Canadian chilled pork exports to Japan slid to 34,936 tonnes from 41,221 the year previous, according to Bill Vaags, president of Canada Pork International.
Those declines were not a reflection on the quality or reputation of Canadian pork.
Vaags said they were a result of a labelling scandal in Japan a couple of years ago that misled Japanese consumers about the origin of their pork products. That triggered consumer skepticism toward pork in general.
“The decline in 2003 was an effect of the mistrust,” he said.
Canada exports pork to more than 90 countries. The U.S. remains an important market to Canada, but American protectionist policies have affirmed the need to expand markets elsewhere, Vaags said.
“We don’t want to be totally reliant on the U.S.”
Vaags was among those last week who said Canada is well recognized internationally for its natural features, but not for its food production. He said awareness of Canadian pork among consumers is low.
