DENVER — The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) brought importers from Mexico and Central and South America to visit the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) for a global meat processing seminar. The event covered attributes of US pork and beef and examined meat production trends, new techniques for processing, packaging and merchandising, as well as food safety.

The importers had the opportunity to meet with industry leaders, such as Dave Bruntz, USMEF secretary/treasurer and farmer and cattle feeder from Friend, Neb.

“It’s good to make these relationships,” Bruntz said. “Most of these countries represented here are from Mexico down through Central America — good trading partners. You know, if we can’t trade with our neighbors, who are we going to trade with?”

USMEF spoke with a couple of the importers following the seminar.

For Colombian importer Valery Ways, the highlight of the seminar was when buyer teams went beyond the classroom to the university’s meat lab, where they explored new product development ideas.

“We had a workshop where we were presented with a problem, and we had to develop a strategy and a solution right there and then and get to work,” Ways said. “It was definitely the part that I enjoyed the most … and that really broadened my mind to see what else we can invent, what else we can create to better our customer experience and to better our business as well.”

Following the seminar, the delegation visited retail outlets and toured processing facilities, including the Certified Piedmontese plant in Lincoln, Neb., and the Wholestone Prestage pork plant near Fremont, Neb. Chilean importer Jose Manuel Jarpa had purchased spareribs from Wholestone Prestage earlier this year, and the plant visit solidified his confidence in these products.

“We purchased some containers of spareribs from Wholestone in January this year,” he said. “We thought that the product was spectacular. It stood for our business like 100%, so today in the visit, I am amazed about this plant … the people working here, the quality of the products. They really have the whole package. I’m very confident that this commercial relationship with Wholestone through USMEF is going to be long term, and we are really happy that we can work with them.”

In addition to Mexico, Colombia and Chile, buyers also participated from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. The seminar and other activities were made possible through support from the National Corn Growers Association and the South Dakota Soybean Checkoff.