New deal in the works for Ontario pork exports to China

by SUSAN MANN

Pork produced by Ontario’s farmers could soon be winging its way to China, Ontario Pork chair Amy Cronin says.

Currently Ontario does not export any pork to China. But “that’s a temporary thing and we have a processor that’s ready to go as soon as that market is opened up,” she explains. Opening up the market involves “getting some things figured out with the Chinese government.”

Ontario pork exports to China will likely begin later this year, says Cronin, who has recently returned from the Asian country where she was part of Ontario’s first ever minister-led agricultural trade mission. Led by Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal and Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade Minister Michael Chan, the 10-day mission included 20 representatives from provincial farm groups, agri-food businesses and an official from the University of Guelph.

Cronin says she didn’t know how much Ontario pork would be exported to China and that the amount would depend “on agreements from our processors.”

Agriculture ministry spokesperson Bryan Bossin says by email the agri-food trade mission resulted in increased exports for Ontario products to China and new investment opportunities for Ontario’s agri-food companies. In total, the mission generated $9 million worth of new business agreements and facilitated more than 300 business-to-business meetings for the Ontario delegates. In addition, it strengthened economic ties between Ontario and China and set the stage for future investment in Ontario and growth in agri-food exports to China.

Cronin says China is a large market with 1.3 billion people and “it was very obvious pork is the meat of choice there. They’re very interested in importing an Ontario product.”

Cronin says packaging is very important to Chinese consumers. While in China, Cronin says she learned about a number of the factors Chinese consumers like about Ontario pork, including “they love the fact that we’ve got ample clean water supplies, clean air in Ontario, that our pigs are raised without hormones and that we’ve got some of the best food safety regulations in the world. All of those things combined, including our CQA (the Canadian pork industry’s on-farm food safety program) and traceability makes for a product that’s second to none.”

She notes she’s “really encouraged by the opportunities that are there for the pork industry.”

While on the mission, Cronin says Ontario officials were able to “share information to help those Chinese companies that were interested get in touch with the right people. We were also able to answer questions about the way that our product is raised.”

In an April 27 press release, Leal says the mission “represented an important step forward for Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food sector.”

China is Ontario’s second largest market for agri-food products after the United States with total agri-food sales to the Asian country hitting $832 million in 2014.

According to the release, some of the agreements reached during the mission include:

• Ontario’s Futurevic Global Sourcing and Shijiazhuang Junlebao Dairy Company signed a letter of intent for the Chinese company to buy $2 million worth of Ontario maple products over the next two years.
• Ontario’s Pillitteri Estates Winery and China-based Hare Wine Company signed a $6 million agreement to bring more icewine to China. The Hare Wine Company investment will establish a new vineyard and help to build a new winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
• Ontario’s Vineland Estates Winery announced a new wine retailing and distribution agreement with its long-term Chinese partner L’Huillier Wine Company. The agreement means more than $1 million of the Ontario winery’s product will be sold in China this year. BF