Germany's pork exports to Japan -
from zero to 2,500 tons - a promising start (?)
For years, Germany has been waiting for the highly interesting pork exports to Japan. Japanese quality standards are high, the price level is world class at over €5 per kg at the processing stage, although the price is doubled by import duties.
More frequent cases of swine fever in parts of Germany were a decisive obstacle for Japan to open its borders to German imports. Now it's possible! A start has been made.
At around 1.2 million tons per year, Japan imports around half of its pork consumption. The main importers are the USA with around 30 % and Canada with 25 %. Denmark has had difficulties maintaining its share of over 10% in recent years. Japan only allows pork imports from countries where animal diseases have been permanently avoided. This applies in particular to the North American USA, Canada and Mexico.
Of the European countries, Denmark is one of them because there has been no swine fever or foot-and-mouth disease there for decades. The almost island situation makes it possible. "The disease doesn't cross the water", they say.
More recently, Poland and Hungary have also received approvals for cooked and therefore disinfected specialty products.
Germany could come up with a wide range of specialties. From Black Forest and Westphalian ham, Bavarian veal sausage and knuckle of pork to Frankfurt and Nuremberg sausages: all products that are well known and have a good reputation in Japan thanks to tourism.
However, it will not be easy to launch products against the concentrated local competition. However, once the Japanese have established trust in the suppliers, standing orders are common. German exports to date account for just 0.5% of Japanese pork imports. There is still a lot to do, but the cake is temptingly big!
