NEW AGGREGATE AND SOURCE SPECIFIC PORK IMPORT DEMAND ELASTICITY FOR JAPAN: IMPLICATIONS TO U.S. EXPORTS

A two-stage model estimates aggregate and source-specific import demand elasticities for pork in Japan. The low income elasticity of imported pork and low income elasticity of U.S. pork reflect consumer survey results of low quality rating for imported pork compared to domestic pork, and rating for U.S. pork not higher than Canadian pork. To maintain and increase market share, the U.S. needs strategies to reverse consumer attitude by positioning U.S. pork as high quality, safe, and low cost.Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

IMPACTS OF ADVERTISING, ATTITUDES, LIFESTYLES, AND HEALTH ON THE DEMAND FOR U.S. PORK: A MICRO-LEVEL ANALYSIS

Using datat from the 1994-1996 CSFII/DHKS, we identify and assess factors affecting the decision to consume pork and conditional on consuming pork, the decision of the amount of pork intake. Branded and generic advertising of pork play a prominent role in both decisions. Beef advertising, however, does not significantly affect either the probability of consuming pork or the amount of pork intake. Key health, attitudinal and lifestyle factors are smoking status, dietary status, body mass index, the importance of nutrition in buying food, and trimming visible fat from meat. These factors however impact the probability of consuming pork rather than the amount of pork consumed. Region, urbanization, race, age, income, and seasonality also affect pork demand.branded advertising and promotion, CSFII/DHKS (1994-96), generic advertising and promotion, pork demand, pork checkoff, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing,

Game Banquet

The 1987 version of the Forestry Club\u27s Wild Game Banquet was a great success, as it is every year. The banquet was held on March 28 in the Scheman building. Talk about Iowa weather! That night we experienced a snowstorm and freezing rain. Despite the weather, the attendance was very good and there were many honored guests in attendance

PORK MARKET DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH PROJECT: MARKET POTENTIAL FOR ALBERTA'S PORK IN SELECTED U.S. MARKETS

The ethnic Asian market in Washington and Oregon constitutes a sizable niche market for fresh Canadian pork. Since California possesses a large population segment that originates from Asia, the characteristics of the ethnic Asian-origin market in the northern part of that State are also of interest since this may also be a potential niche market for Canadian pork. The objectives of the first part of this study are to evaluate the Asian ethnic markets for fresh pork in the United States Pacific Northwest and Vancouver. In the second part of the project the assessment of the market for fresh pork by Asian-origin consumers was extended to San Francisco. In this extension, a detailed assessment was also made of the product preferences for fresh pork by Asian-origin consumers in San Francisco and the behaviour patterns associated with store choices of these fresh pork consumers. Asian retailers and distributors in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland were surveyed by direct interview during November and December 1996. The survey applied semantic differential scaling questions, open-ended questions and a stated preference task, a conjoint methodology, to examine pork retailer's and distributor's perceptions of fresh pork produced in Western Canada and in the Midwest United States. Personal interviews with wholesalers and retailers were also applied in the San Francisco market survey which was conducted in 1998. Two consumer surveys were also conducted in San Francisco in 1998, directed at Asian-origin consumers of fresh pork. The structure of the market for fresh pork represented by retailers catering to Asian consumers in Vancouver differs from that in Seattle and Portland. The "Asian market" in Vancouver is dominated by many small shops that deal directly with packers. The small shops in Seattle and Portland deal with distributors and wholesalers. Distributors play a small role in Vancouver's retail market. Asian retailers in Seattle deal with a variety of suppliers, including both packers and distributors. In Portland, retailers catering to Asian consumers trade mainly with distributors and a local packer-wholesaler. In San Francisco, Asian stores and butcher shops prefer to obtain pork through smaller joggers, while American style supermarket retailers catering to the Asian consumers purchase pork directly from meat packing companies; fresh pork is sold in different ways in the different types of stores catering to Asian consumers that are found in these markets. The first survey found that Western Canadian pork enjoys an image of superior quality amongst retailers and distributors in Seattle's ethnic Asian market. Asian retailers in Portland are less familiar with Western Canadian pork and did not regard it as highly as did retailers in Seattle. However, distributors in Portland are more familiar with Western Canadian pork and consider it to be superior to Midwest United States pork in terms of overall quality, meat colour and fat trim. In both these markets, Western Canadian pork is generally considered to be expensive. These results are not statistically significant, however they are of economic relevance since most of the major players in the segment were interviewed. Little knowledge of Western Canadian pork was evidenced by retailers or consumers in this market segment in San Francisco. Western Canadian pork presently enjoys a reputation for superior quality amongst the retailers that specialize in sales to Asian consumers in Seattle and Portland. However it is also clear that many members of the trade lack information or experience with Canadian pork. Consequently, there is an opportunity for Canadian processors to maintain or increase market share through more education and promotion to this market segment. The 1998 survey of Asian-origin consumers of fresh pork in San Francisco focused on two aspects: preferences for fresh pork attributes and choice of store for fresh pork purchases. An intercept survey method was chosen to select and interview consumer respondents. Some 40% of the 196 respondents to the store choice survey purchase most of their fresh pork from American style supermarkets, 33% purchase mostly from small Asian stores, 24% from large Asian stores, and the rest from butcher shops. The most popular cut of pork purchased by Asian consumers is loins, followed by pork shoulders and butts, then pork leg, bellies, hock, and offal. The analysis indicated that socio-economic and demographic factors, as well as store attributes, significantly affect Asian consumers' store and product choices. The analysis of the ranking of selected attributes of fresh pork by Asian-origin consumers in San Francisco, California showed that freshness is ranked as the most important attribute, followed by the attributes of the color of meat, lowness in fat, and the whiteness of fat. The attributes of price, freedom from chemicals, and being USDA labelled were also ranked to be of importance. The attributes of little or least importance were knowing that pork came from the US, customized pork cuts, the variety of pork cuts, packaged pork, vacuum packed pork and seasoned and prepared pork. Empirical results from an ordered probit model postulated to explain respondents' rankings of attributes indicate that particular demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Asian-origin consumers influenced the importance rankings for the pork attributes that were identified to be important. For example, Chinese origin consumers were appreciably more sensitive to pork price than were other Asian-origin groups. One facet of the findings is that marketing strategies should not treat Asian-origin consumers as a single homogenous niche group in marketing since there are identifiable sub-groups of these consumers with specific attitudes and preferences. The importance placed on different attributes by particular ethnic subgroups, and their different preferences for stores at which fresh pork is purchased, provides useful information on which to develop strategies to target market development activities at the Asian-origin ethnic subgroups.Marketing, International Relations/Trade,

Consumption of Pork Products: Now and to the Year 2020

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 1994-96 and 1998 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) are used to describe pork consumption patterns as well as to estimate a censored demand system for pork cuts. The descriptive analysis fills the void about basic information on who consumes pork, how much, and where. A censored system of four pork cuts is estimated for adults, using a maximum-likelihood procedure. The estimated system is used to predict consumption of pork products by adults through the year 2020.censored dependent variables, CSFII, pork consumption, Tobit system, Consumer/Household Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF PORK: U.S. AND CHINA

Consumers in the United States consume 53 pounds of pork per capita per year. Forty percent of that pork enters the market by way of a contract with a packer or an integrated supply chain arrangement. Chinese consumers consume 37 pounds per capita. Eighty percent of that pork is produced in the backyards of millions of households all over the countryside. The supply chain that brings pork from hog to human is clearly different in these two countries, but both are moving in the same direction. In the United States, pork breeding produced leaner but heavier hogs by the late 1990's. This was largely in response to consumer demand for leaner meat and processors demand for less waste. Stricter sanitation regulation and quality control by food manufacturers led to a more integrated supply chain. Food companies contract with farmers for hogs with particular characteristics being demanded by consumers and retailers. Half of fresh pork and forty percent of processed pork is sold through foodservice establishments in the U.S. Consumers need for time-saving food is revealed by the portion of pork they eat away from home (42% of $35 billion sales) and by the mix of fresh (27%) and processed (73%) pork purchased in retail stores. The emphasis in the U.S. supply chain for pork is on delivering consistent quality of safe meat to consumers all the time. There is considerable research into new pork products. The top ten processing plants handle 43 percent of the total output. China is the largest pork producer in the world slaughtering 526.7 million hogs in 2000, over five times as many as the United States. Although commercial operations and specialized households are growing they provide only about twenty percent of all China's pork. Lower quality and sanitation standards prevent pork produced in backyards from entering the westernized/commercial supply chain but it is an important source of meat in the inland and rural areas of China. Coastal cities have more commercial and imported pork. For example, in Beijing sixty percent of production is from commercial farms. The advent of retail supermarkets and higher incomes in China foretell an increase in commercial pork operations. Direct foreign investment by key Western food companies and retailers are leading the standards for food safety and handling in the larger cities. Based on current pork consumption at various income levels, it is estimated that pork consumption will grow more than seven percent in Chinese cities and 1.5 percent in the countryside over the next ten years. This translates into an additional 12 million pounds of pork in 2011 with the urban consumption surpassing the rural consumption. The pork industry will be driven to emphasize quality, sanitation, and convenience in China as they already do in the United States. With China entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) more pork imports can be expected. Exports will depend on meeting the quality and safety standards of importing countries.Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Consumption of Pork Products: Now and to the Year 2020

Data from the recent USDA's food consumption surveys are used to describe pork consumption patterns, to estimate a censored demand system for pork cuts, and to forecast pork consumption. Results indicate that between 2000 and 2020, pork consumption is predicted to grow for all cuts mainly due to population growth.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production

The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production and assess risks in different steps of the pork production chain

Kosher Pork

Both conventional wisdom and leading academic research view pork barrel spending as antithetical to responsible policymaking in times of crisis. In this paper we present an alternative view. When agents are heterogeneous in their ideology and in their information about the economic situation, allocation of pork may enable passage of legislation appropriate to a "crisis" that might otherwise not pass. Pork "greases the legislative wheels" not by bribing legislators to accept legislation they view as harmful, but by conveying information about the necessity of policy change, where it may be impossible to convey such information in the absence of pork. Pork may be used for this function in situations where all legislators would agree to forgo pork under full information. Moreover, pork will be observed when the public good is most valuable precisely because it is valuable and the informed agenda setter wants to convey this information.