YUCATAN PENINSULA — The US Grains Council helped encourage a large Mexican swine producer to restart the use distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS).

During face-to-face meetings with leadership from Kekén, a fully integrated processor, the Council was able to address quality concerns that caused them to stop using DDGS five years ago. The USGC also put the company in touch with US suppliers who signed long-term contracts with Kekén.

Kekén is currently using 3,000 tonnes of US DDGS per month, or 36,000 tonnes per year, at an approximate value of $12.6 million per year.

The company has feed mills, farms with more than 77,000 sows, a slaughterhouse, processing plants and direct sales points for consumers. Kekén also is exporting pork to Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and China.

USGC used Market Access Program (MAP) funding to tour Mexico and promote US DDGS and highlight the significant price savings. At the time, DDGS values were roughly 85% of the value of corn and the ratio was falling rapidly.

For Mexican feed operators struggling with rising feed costs, US DDGS offered a solution to reduce operational costs.

The Council paired the DDGS marketing program with its annual export corn quality report rollout activity to promote US corn quality.

The USGC invested $8,000 of MAP funds on the work with Kekén, a return on investment of $1,575 per $1 of MAP funds invested.