Japanese consumers and U.S beef

[agman]

Japanese Consumers Pick U.S. Beef Above The Rest

Source: USMEF

September 11, 2006

When given the choice of American, Japanese and Australian beef, consumers at a Tokyo beef event Sunday chose the U.S. variety.

The event was held at Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world, to spread the message "Beef Itself Is Safe" to consumers. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) was there to emphasize its "We Care" campaign, designed to regain consumer trust and build a positive image of U.S. beef.

Agman...More entities will switch to U.S beef as they become comfortable that there will be minimal risk of a disruption in supplies. The resumption of exprot sales to S.Korea will provide a significant boost in U.S beef exports next year. Good news for the U.S beef industry.

The Metropolitan Meat Trade Association, which represents about 1,500 Tokyo butcher shops, sponsored the event, which featured 500 free samples of beef each from the United States, Japan and Australia.

U.S. beef was the first to "sell out" and its booth attracted the most consumer attention. "U.S. beef is very delicious and I am happy U.S. beef is back," one consumer said.

The event was covered by all key Japanese television news outlets as reporters interviewed consumers at the event. "It was interesting to note that although the event was sponsored by Japanese meat groups and attended by Australia, almost all of the coverage focused on U.S. beef and the reporting was very favorable," USMEF Japan Director Greg Hanes said.

TV-Asahi, usually reporting how Japanese consumers will not eat U.S. beef, reported Sunday that American beef was the most popular.

As consumer response and media reports turn favorable, more and more U.S. beef is making its way through customs checks without incident and finding its way to store shelves or yakiniku restaurants before being quickly snapped up by Japanese consumers.

"We Care" Events Continue

At the Tokyo event, USMEF distributed more than 1,500 fans and balloons featuring the "We Care" logo. USMEF continues its "We Care" campaign next week with a beef caravan visiting several Japanese cities to conduct seminars, strengthening buyers' understanding of the positive aspects of using U.S. beef.

For consumers, "We Care" barbecues begin next week to provide opportunities for families to taste U.S. beef again. USMEF will provide food, drinks and entertainment to consumers in the local areas to build goodwill at a grass roots level, encouraging families to enjoy U.S. beef.

USMEF also has planned a reception Sept. 19 at the premier Hotel Okura for trade members and key influencers to thank them for their loyalty to U.S. beef. A renowned Texas chef will help prepare a special dinner featuring U.S. beef.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

 

[Sandhusker]

Let me know when we're back to $1.4B. :roll:

 

[Mike]

TOKYO — It has been weeks since Japan dropped its import ban on U.S. beef and the first shipment went on sale, but the American meat is nowhere to be seen at supermarkets -- except at Costco stores.

Many Japanese are worried about the safety of U.S. beef. Retailers say they won't waste their time carrying an unpopular product. Instead, shelves are filled with beef from Australia and Canada.



Japan was once the top destination for U.S. beef, importing $1.4 billion worth a year. That was before Tokyo's decision in December 2003 to ban American beef imports after the first case of U.S. mad cow disease.

The ban was lifted July 27.

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, which raises its cattle in Campbellsburg, Ky., said its Japanese sales are back to nearly half their level before the ban -- but most of that beef is going to restaurants.

Retailers are "really reluctant" to stock U.S. beef in large quantities, said Joe Meng, Creekstone's vice president of animal science, health and welfare. The farm operations and livestock management is based in Campbellsburg, while the processing, sales and customer service operations are in Arkansas City, Kans.

"We've had good orders, although I think everyone is cautious."

"The people buying our beef to sell in Japan are nervous, because (polls show that) some 80 percent of the Japanese consumers say they're still apprehensive about U.S. beef because … it's not subjected to the same standards that their beef is."

Meng said Creekstone's sales may be rebounding faster than other U.S. producers' because of its stance in favor of testing its beef before sale.

Creekstone sued in March over U.S. refusal to let it test for mad cow disease in every animal it slaughters, as its Japanese customers want. The lawsuit is pending.

The Agriculture Department tests about 1 percent of U.S. cattle that are slaughtered each year.

The government repeatedly has said that U.S. beef is safe because of stringent checks. But such assurances have done little to allay the fears of Japanese about mad cow disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a degenerative nerve disease in cattle.

Eating contaminated meat products has been linked to the rare human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, blamed in more than 150 deaths. The outbreak, mostly in Britain, peaked in the 1990s.

The ban on American beef was eased in December 2005, but reimposed in January after prohibited spinal bones were found in a veal shipment -- an error by American plant workers and a government inspector who didn't realize veal cuts with backbone are considered at risk for mad cow disease in Japan.

Ichiro Tanaka, spokesman for major supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co., said he's happy selling Australian and Japanese beef since his 180 stores stopped carrying American beef three years ago.

American beef at about $11.70 a pound costs a fraction of Japanese beef, which can cost 10 times as much. Australian and American beef are comparable in price.

 

[agman]

Let me know when we're back to $1.4B. :roll:

If I recall you were the one who said the Japanese consumer would not accept U.S. beef. You were laughing you said. How silly do you look now that the positive RESULTS, which I reiterated would occur, are showing up in press reports - actual results versus rhetoric.

I beleive it will take a while to fully restore trade. Where did I ever say it would not take time? In fact it is likley to take several years due to the increased competition that was only accelerated by the BSE event.

 

[Sandhusker]

Let me know when we're back to $1.4B. :roll:

If I recall you were the one who said the Japanese consumer would not accept U.S. beef. You were laughing you said. How silly do you look now that the positive RESULTS, which I reiterated would occur, are showing up in press reports - actual results versus rhetoric.

I beleive it will take a while to fully restore trade. Where did I ever say it would not take time? In fact it is likley to take several years due to the increased competition that was only accelerated by the BSE event.

You call a few ton results? It's just a drop in the bucket compared to what they used to take.

I was laughing because you said the Japanese would "scramble" to get US beef. Now you say it will take a while. Which is it? I've never heard of a slow scramble.

PS: How bout them Buffs? :lol: :lol: :lol:
If Chadron St. were to play them this weekend, do you think the Eagles would be favored by more than 10?

 

[katrina]

Go Eagles!!!!!! :twisted:

 

[flounder]

Creekstone says Asian market starting to pick up slowly
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WICHITA-- Kansas beef producers say resumed trade with South Korea and Japan will help them gain back the trust of Asian meat consumers, though they don't think sales will rebound to levels seen before the two countries imposed bans over concerns about mad cow disease.

South Korea had been one of the largest foreign beef markets before the country shut its doors to American beef imports in 2003 after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. Last week, South Korea agreed to resume those imports.

Kansas meatpacking plant operators say that market's reopening, combined with Japan's decision in July to lift its ban on American beef, will boost sales to Asian markets, albeit gradually.

''We have some product moving, but it's not very fast,'' said Kevin Pentz, general manager at the Arkansas City-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef. ''I don't think we'll see any great surge in demand.''

Creekstone, which specializes in premium black Angus beef, employs about 750 people to process about 5,250 head of cattle a week. Before 2003, Creekstone had sold about one-third of its beef to Japan, which at one time imported $1.4 billion worth of U.S. beef a year.

But Japan banned U.S. beef imports after the discovery in 2003 of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a degenerative nerve illness in cattle commonly called mad cow disease.

Creekstone sued the U.S. government in March for refusing to let the company test for mad cow disease in every animal it slaughters, saying the company's Japanese customers wanted comprehensive testing.

Kansas cattlemen agree Japan's decision this summer to resume imports of U.S. beef is having a noticeable impact.

While beef exports still are 57 percent below 2003 levels, they are up almost 70 percent from 2005, said Jim Mintert, a livestock market economist at Kansas State University.

Mintert said the resumption of beef trade with South Korea will bolster those numbers.

''They're allowing beef from animals younger than 30 months of age, where Japan is less than 20 months,'' Mintert said. ''But one major problem is this is boneless beef only, with a zero tolerance for even the smallest bone fragment. That's a tough restriction to meet.''

Mintert said ranchers across the Great Plains are struggling to recover from the summer drought, which forced them to cull herds and sell off livestock. He said that has kept cattlemen from entering the expansion cycle that would be expected with today's prices, which top $92 per hundredweight.

Still, many producers say any progress is a positive step, and resumed trade with South Korea will help build back trust of consumers across Asia as they see that U.S. beef exports are safe and healthy.

''I try to keep looking on the positive side of it,'' said Frank Harper, a Harvey County rancher and small feedlot operator. ''If we can gain a trust factor from their (Japanese and South Korean) visits to our packing plants, it'll be a really good thing.''

 

[Mike]

Let me know when we're back to $1.4B. :roll:

If I recall you were the one who said the Japanese consumer would not accept U.S. beef. You were laughing you said. How silly do you look now that the positive RESULTS, which I reiterated would occur, are showing up in press reports - actual results versus rhetoric.

I beleive it will take a while to fully restore trade. Where did I ever say it would not take time? In fact it is likley to take several years due to the increased competition that was only accelerated by the BSE event.

You call a few ton results? It's just a drop in the bucket compared to what they used to take.

I was laughing because you said the Japanese would "scramble" to get US beef. Now you say it will take a while. Which is it? I've never heard of a slow scramble.

PS: How bout them Buffs? :lol: :lol: :lol:
If Chadron St. were to play them this weekend, do you think the Eagles would be favored by more than 10?

The mighty Buffs may not win a game this year. Seriously, not one. :shock:

 

[agman]

Let me know when we're back to $1.4B. :roll:

If I recall you were the one who said the Japanese consumer would not accept U.S. beef. You were laughing you said. How silly do you look now that the positive RESULTS, which I reiterated would occur, are showing up in press reports - actual results versus rhetoric.

I beleive it will take a while to fully restore trade. Where did I ever say it would not take time? In fact it is likley to take several years due to the increased competition that was only accelerated by the BSE event.

You call a few ton results? It's just a drop in the bucket compared to what they used to take.

I was laughing because you said the Japanese would "scramble" to get US beef. Now you say it will take a while. Which is it? I've never heard of a slow scramble.

PS: How bout them Buffs? :lol: :lol: :lol:
If Chadron St. were to play them this weekend, do you think the Eagles would be favored by more than 10?

The "while" is the result of other issues, not demand. As we ramp up production that meets the import requirement per the latest agreement sales will climb rapidly. No one that I know of ever thought exports would return to pre BSE levels in one or two years. I am and have been in that camp. That is vastly different from your view that you parrot from headlines from many groups that are anti-American and anti-beef who convinced you that the Japanese consumer would reject U.S. beef. We have sold more than a few tons my man and there is more on the way. Supply is the problem at the present time, not Japanese demand. Tyson is currently putting together the first sales to S. Korea. Their consumers too will welcome U.S. beef.

The "Buffs" have been renamed the "Puffs". No more hitting below the belt from a Cornhusker! After this weekend you might have to rename the Huskers. I think the line is 19 points at the present time. The reality is that the state of football at CU shows how badly Barnett let the program slide. He should have been fired three years prior. It will take at least three years for the new coach to get his players into place. Until then it will a very rough ride. They may not win a game this year. They have to play Arizona St and Georgia before they start Big 12 play.

 

[Sandhusker]

"''We have some product moving, but it's not very fast,'' said Kevin Pentz, general manager at the Arkansas City-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef. ''I don't think we'll see any great surge in demand.'' "

" A spokesman for Aeon CO, Japan's top supermarket, says they are not handling U.S. beef. She says, "The Nation's top supermarket chain hasn't received a single call from customers asking for American beef. Aeon, which operates more than 300 food stores nationwide, is often deluged with requests for products, so that means there's no interest in American beef."

Now who should we believe, somebody who is selling directly to the Japanese and a large Japanese retailer, or somebody who once said the Japanese never asked for testing and could not accept tested beef because they had no protocol?

You still haven't explained who the "we" are in your example. It's clearly not producers. I was curious exactly what group of people that you considered yourself part of.

The Huskers very well could get beat this weekend. However, USC happens to be a highly ranked division 1A team. :wink: Seems to me that 46 of the last 48 teams to play them got beat, too. I don't think too many people are shedding any tears over the Buff's woes. You reap what you sow.

 

[Econ101]

"''We have some product moving, but it's not very fast,'' said Kevin Pentz, general manager at the Arkansas City-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef. ''I don't think we'll see any great surge in demand.'' "

" A spokesman for Aeon CO, Japan's top supermarket, says they are not handling U.S. beef. She says, "The Nation's top supermarket chain hasn't received a single call from customers asking for American beef. Aeon, which operates more than 300 food stores nationwide, is often deluged with requests for products, so that means there's no interest in American beef."

Now who should we believe, somebody who is selling directly to the Japanese and a large Japanese retailer, or somebody who once said the Japanese never asked for testing and could not accept tested beef because they had no protocol?

You still haven't explained who the "we" are in your example. It's clearly not producers. I was curious exactly what group of people that you considered yourself part of.

The Huskers very well could get beat this weekend. However, USC happens to be a highly ranked division 1A team. :wink: Seems to me that 46 of the last 48 teams to play them got beat, too. I don't think too many people are shedding any tears over the Buff's woes. You reap what you sow.

Even if sales did pick up, how much money has been left on the table by following a policy of not allowing to test as opposed to the "trust us, we are the USDA" policy.

Our trade deficit was another record this last month.

Sometimes you have to face the facts instead of throwing the spin.