The first participation in international exhibitions this year has been positively evaluated in the framework on the new edition of ProdExpo Moscow, although the Russian market is currently not as relevant as a few years ago.
Beyond present circumstances, it was thought the investment was worth it for the great potential of this market, focused on high purchasing power niches and also for the recent recognition of Uruguayan meat –mainly from grass-fed animals- as high quality meat on the part of Russian authorities.
The exhibition, which was held from February 8th through February 12th, was a good opportunity to interact with colleagues from meat institutions from other countries, to get to know the different views on the reality of the Russian market, and to facilitate the co-exhibitor companies accompanying INAC to contact customers.
In this case, co-exhibitor exporters were: BPU, JBS Canelones, Marfrig Tacuarembó, Minerva Pul and Carrasco, San Jacinto and Solís.
Likewise, the exhibition was taken advantage of to promote the next World Meat Congress jointly organized by INAC and IMS (International Meat Secretariat), to take place from November 7th to November 9th 2016 in Punta del Este.
Within the Meat Pavilion, the participation of MERCOSUR countries: INAC (Uruguay), IPCVA (Argentina), ABIEC (Brazil) and CPC (Paraguay) stood out, as well as the absence of important exporters such as United States, Canada, the European Union (except France), Australia and New Zealand, due to the economic sanctions levied on Russia. It is also to be highlighted that for the first time, India took part in the meat sector as exhibitor offering Hallal cuts (Allana firm).
Most of the stands belonged to Russian companies, among which MIRATORG stood out. Despite the economic crisis Russia is going through, the local meat sector is growing, particularly in the production of poultry and pig, and to a lesser extent, in the production of beef in feed-lot systems.
The first day of exhibition, INAC’s stand received the Minister of Livestock Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay Tabaré Aguerre, Ambassador Aníbal Cabral and staff from the Uruguayan Embassy supporting the Uruguayan meat sector delegation.
Apart from the usual customers, the stand received the visit of local media, presidents of meat institutes from MERCOSUR countries, representatives of the Culinary Arts School SWISSAM from Saint Petersburg and of PRODEXPO coordinators.
Exhibitors agreed that the Russian market is undergoing severe times for the colocation of Uruguayan meats. In their opinion, the low value of the ruble and the offer of Brazilian and Paraguayan meats at up to 30 % lower prices explain this situation. Companies declared they do not expect great business activity; nevertheless, they paid the visit and made personal contacts in a long-term valuable fruitful environment.
Participants and visitors valued the quality of the stand and INAC’s services during the exhibition, as well as the presence of both Minister Aguerre and Ambassador Cabral.
Likewise, board members of INAC visited the facilities of MIRATORG enterprise, their distribution center in the outskirts of Moscow, as well as their production facilities located further to the South of Russia. This made it possible to have a thorough idea of the progress Russia shows in beef, pig meat and poultry production.
