The firm is a major advertiser in Mexico, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, “where its highway billboards tug at Mexicans’ patriotic sympathies, urging them to by local instead of purchasing the many U.S. brands that have inundated the country since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994.”
For now, Bachoco must buy U.S. eggs to sell as it awaits a stamp of approval to sell Mexican eggs in the U.S. market. One of the ads appearing on billboards near Houston shows “two eggs wearing sombreros and crossed cartridge belts, and the words, ‘Mexican Style Eggs.”
Following customers north is nothing new for Mexican firms. Gruma, Mexico’s large corn flour and tortilla company has a large U.S. presence, operating 19 plants from Los Angeles to Goldsboro, N.C. The article says that while that option would be available to Bachoco, it would require heavy investment in farmland and processing capacity. For now, the company is subtracting the production of its table eggs to Cal-Maine Foods, Jackson, Miss. The arrangement began late last year.
