BEATRICE, Neb. — While they aren’t staples of the daily diets of U.S. consumers, pork variety meats such as livers, hearts, kidneys and stomach are emerging as a growing opportunity to increase exports across the globe, according to the national pork checkoff.

"Growing populations around the world are creating a demand for pork variety meats and products that the U.S. typically considers as byproducts," said Brian Zimmerman, a Beatrice pork producer and chair of the checkoff’s International Trade Committee in Des Moines.

"Increased exports of these products are key to putting more money in U.S. pork producers’ pockets," with even products like bones, ears, tongues, tails and snouts growing in popularity in some parts of the world.

Becca Nepple, pork checkoff vice president of international marketing, said the United States is the world’s largest exporter of pork muscle cuts, producing more than 5 million metric tons of pork variety meats and byproducts each year but exporting less than 1/10 of that.

"There’s a great opportunity to increase exports of these products," she said, adding a significant portion of U.S. pork carcasses are now rendered to make pet food, blood meal, bone meal and other products. "These products are of low value in the U.S. but often are highly valued in foreign countries. In many cases, variety meat exports sell at a premium."

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), variety pork exports became a key export opportunity last October. "Growing global populations are creating demand for pork variety meats," said Tim Bierman, a Larrabee, Iowa, wean-to-finish pork producer and National Pork Board member. "These trends definitely play a role in producers’ profitability."

In 2013, the pork checkoff’s International Trade Committee launched a multi-phase research project to increase variety meat exports, receiving a grant from the USDA’s Emerging Market Program. The researchers are looking at trade restrictions and documentation requirements for variety meats in selected markets and shelf-life challenges involved in exporting chilled variety meats.

The study is also focusing on emerging markets that hold promise for increased variety meat exports, with Vietnam, the Philippines, Colombia and South Africa identified by the checkoff.

"Results from the study will provide information to help identify additional opportunities in other export markets," Nepple said.

To help boost exports, the pork checkoff is working to find new uses for pork variety meat and byproducts to fill protein needs. Paul Clayton, USMEF senior vice president for Technical Services, served as a panelist for the recent National Pork Board summit focused on enhancing use and marketability of pork variety meat and pork byproducts.

Clayton was on an industry panel with David Peterson, vice president of international sales for Seaboard Foods, and Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University professor of economics. The panel discussed trade restrictions and documentation requirements variety meat items face in selected markets, shelf-life challenges and emerging markets.

"Pork variety meat exports are very important for enhancing carcass value, so it’s critical that we develop new markets and expand the range of products that are eligible for export," Clayton said.

"With our access to China being rather limited, we’ve increased our focus on markets in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa also hold promise for variety meat exports."

Ron Birkenholz, com-munications director at the Iowa Pork Producers Assoc., agreed, saying Asian countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Korea "actually prefer the variety meats over the muscle cuts in most cases, and being able to provide our international customers with what they want simply adds value to the hog.

"As I heard in a meeting yesterday (Oct. 8), the hog carcass is a store of undiscovered sub-primal and muscle cuts," he added. "Average world consumption of meat is increasing and projected to continue, and this should come as great news to U.S. hog farmers."

In fact, pork variety meats are showcased in many dishes around the globe, including: Chicharron (fried pork skin) in Mexico and Colombia; Pho, a soup made from bone stock and bone marrow, in Vietnam; and Dinuguan, which is prepared with lungs, kidneys, intestines, ears, heart and snout stewed in pig blood, in the Philippines.

Meat scientist researchers from Iowa, Colorado and North Carolina state universities are developing new products. "There were some very creative ideas, especially in the area of processed meats," Nepple said.

"For example, researchers are examining a technique that allows jowl meat to be processed into a low-cost product similar to bacon, as well as a mixture of liver, kidney and heart that is ground and processed into a loaf. These items could attract a lot of interest in markets that need economically-priced proteins."