DENVER — Costco is a leading distributor of US beef and pork cuts in Mexico to both everyday shoppers and businesses. Currently, Costco is looking to expand its sales of US red meat to foodservice operators in Mexico, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF). To assist the retailer in this endeavor, USMEF recently held training seminars for Costco sales personnel on the needs of chefs working in Mexico’s restaurant and hospitality sectors.

The training sessions were made possible through support from the US Department of Agriculture, the Beef Checkoff Program and the National Pork Board.

“Costco is a very important partner for USMEF because they only carry US beef and pork,” said German Navarrete, USMEF corporate chef based in Mexico City. “So when people go to their stores, they know they will find this very high quality and consistent product that they are looking for, and that’s exactly what US beef and pork provide.”

The training seminars were tailored to each Costco location based on the region’s target audience of chefs and foodservice professionals. Information was presented on the attributes of US red meat cuts as well as how to prepare them and with what equipment.

“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,” Navarrete said.

Navarrete described the main points stressed to Costco salespersons to keep in mind when addressing operators.

“Number one is what kind of equipment they have, what the target market is and how they’re going to cook the product based on these three premises,” he said. “Then we go into the recommendation of what product they should be using.”

Mexico has long been an outstanding destination for US meat exports. In 2024, US pork exports to Mexico reached new heights. Through October, exports totaled nearly 950,000 tonnes, up 6% from last year’s record pace, valued at $2.1 billion (up 11%). Beef exports increased 13% to 193,000 tonnes, while value climbed 15% to $1.12 billion.