One of the fastest-growing regions for U.S. pork exports is Central America. It’s grown quickly in recent years and is reaching new heights in 2026. Luciano Ruano is the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s regional representative for Central America and the Dominican Republic. She said one of the keys to this rapid growth has been expanding the use of U.S. pork beyond raw material for further processing to a higher-value, center-of-the-plate feature item.
“We see that U.S. pork is expanding beyond raw material for sausage production and further processing, and is gaining space as a center-of-the-plate protein. One factor contributing to this change is the educational work that we conduct across different channels. We train importers, we train retailers, chefs, and consumers, and we connect them with product knowledge and preparation. So, this has helped change the perception of pork and encouraged more consumers to include it in their weekly meals, contributing to more consistent demand.”
While Honduras and Guatemala are the region’s mainstay markets for U.S. pork, exports are also expanding to other Central American countries. Ruano highlights Nicaragua, where despite restrictions on some marketing activities, U.S. pork is gaining traction in the retail sector.
“In Nicaragua, especially, we have been doing strong promotion with La Colonia supermarkets. We have been promoting very strongly there, all the cuts from the loin, and the promotion has been very successful. They have presented us with a growth of 55 percent in their sales compared to last year’s sales. So, that’s a very successful story for us because Nicaragua is a complicated market because of its political situation. So, we are not allowed to do many things like hands-on workshops over there, but we are trying to support them with this type of promotions and trade shows, trade teams, and other activities.”
Through August, U.S. pork exports to Central America increased 11 percent over last year’s record pace, topping 130,000 metric tons. Export value climbed 15 percent to $377 million. Shipments to Nicaragua increased 10 percent in value to $48 million.