The U.S. Meat Export Federation recently teamed up with the National Pork Board and Indiana Soybean Alliance for the third season of Porkstars, a high-profile cooking competition in Vietnam.
Indiana soy grower Chris Eck traveled to Vietnam for the Porkstars event.
Our soybeans from Indiana, are our main ingredient in the pork, and that’s a good way to extend the profits towards making a more valuable product and exporting those to Vietnam,” Eck says. “The Porkstars is pretty good. It’s fun to see this much excitement around something you’re going to have for dinner.”
While the Vietnam market does present some access challenges, National Pork Board President Al
Wulfekuhle of Iowa sees potential.
“There’s a tariff issue here that keeps us a little more expensive than some of our competitors, so we have to sell it on quality, taste and flavor,” Wulfekuhle says. “It’s a long game. As this economy grows, as the middle class rises, as they move to more of a structure away from wet markets and grocery stores and to a modern Western economy, I think that’s when the real opportunity comes for us.”
The Porkstars event was sponsored by the National Pork Board, the Indiana Soybean Alliance, and the
Indiana Corn Marketing Council. Event proceeds benefited a Vietnamese charity that provides
nutritious meals to children in rural Vietnam.