Mike
Well-known member
Associated Press
Update 2: U.S. Beef Exporters Woo Japanese Consumers
By HANS GREIMEL , 12.22.2005, 05:26 AM
American beef producers unveiled plans Thursday for a public relations blitz to win over Japanese wary of mad cow disease but said it will take at least three years to reach the shipment levels seen before the 2003 import ban.
Japan partially lifted the two-year ban on U.S. beef imports on Dec. 12. But U.S. ranchers still "have a higher hill to climb" in convincing Japan's finicky consumers the meat is safe, said Philip Seng, head of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
Seng said it would be at least three years before American exporters reach the 2003 level of about 300,000 metric tons (330,000 U.S. tons) of beef sold in Japan. Next year, producers are targeting 100,000 metric tons (110 U.S. tons), or just a third that amount.
"I hope I'm wrong, I hope it's more than that," Philip Seng said at a Tokyo press luncheon where U.S. tenderloin was served with french fries and spinach. "The image of the U.S. industry has suffered immeasurably."
U.S. producers are eager to re-establish a foothold in what had been their most lucrative export market before it was shut out after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S. herd.
But American beef still faces a struggle in Japan, where consumers are particularly sensitive to safety concerns. Some restaurants are reluctant to market American meat until they are sure the public will be receptive.
A survey earlier this month by the Kyodo news agency showed about 75 percent of Japanese unwilling to eat U.S. beef because of mad cow fears, compared with 21 percent saying they would consume it.
Eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease, the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can cause the fatal brain disorder variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
Seng outlined plans to win over Japanese wholesalers and consumers with advertisements, trade shows, town hall meetings, endorsements from Japanese who eat U.S. beef and tours of American processing facilities for Japanese buyers.
He declined to say how much his organization was planning to spend on the campaign.
U.S. producers face other hurdles in the new restrictions Tokyo has placed on resumed imports, Seng said.
Japan will only allow meat from cows younger than 21 months, and U.S. producers must also follow strict guidelines, such as removing dangerous cow parts, including brains and spinal cords. That severely limits the amount of U.S. meat eligible for export.
Beef consumption in Japan has meanwhile dropped by 10 percent during the ban, meaning the size of the overall market is smaller, Seng added. In the intervening years, Australia displaced the United States as the top beef exporter to Japan.
The first shipment of U.S. beef in nearly two years, 4.6 tons from California, arrived in Japan last week. That shipment was bought by Marudai Food Co., which said it will use the meat for sampling and testing, not for sale to consumers.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Update 2: U.S. Beef Exporters Woo Japanese Consumers
By HANS GREIMEL , 12.22.2005, 05:26 AM
American beef producers unveiled plans Thursday for a public relations blitz to win over Japanese wary of mad cow disease but said it will take at least three years to reach the shipment levels seen before the 2003 import ban.
Japan partially lifted the two-year ban on U.S. beef imports on Dec. 12. But U.S. ranchers still "have a higher hill to climb" in convincing Japan's finicky consumers the meat is safe, said Philip Seng, head of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
Seng said it would be at least three years before American exporters reach the 2003 level of about 300,000 metric tons (330,000 U.S. tons) of beef sold in Japan. Next year, producers are targeting 100,000 metric tons (110 U.S. tons), or just a third that amount.
"I hope I'm wrong, I hope it's more than that," Philip Seng said at a Tokyo press luncheon where U.S. tenderloin was served with french fries and spinach. "The image of the U.S. industry has suffered immeasurably."
U.S. producers are eager to re-establish a foothold in what had been their most lucrative export market before it was shut out after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S. herd.
But American beef still faces a struggle in Japan, where consumers are particularly sensitive to safety concerns. Some restaurants are reluctant to market American meat until they are sure the public will be receptive.
A survey earlier this month by the Kyodo news agency showed about 75 percent of Japanese unwilling to eat U.S. beef because of mad cow fears, compared with 21 percent saying they would consume it.
Eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease, the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can cause the fatal brain disorder variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
Seng outlined plans to win over Japanese wholesalers and consumers with advertisements, trade shows, town hall meetings, endorsements from Japanese who eat U.S. beef and tours of American processing facilities for Japanese buyers.
He declined to say how much his organization was planning to spend on the campaign.
U.S. producers face other hurdles in the new restrictions Tokyo has placed on resumed imports, Seng said.
Japan will only allow meat from cows younger than 21 months, and U.S. producers must also follow strict guidelines, such as removing dangerous cow parts, including brains and spinal cords. That severely limits the amount of U.S. meat eligible for export.
Beef consumption in Japan has meanwhile dropped by 10 percent during the ban, meaning the size of the overall market is smaller, Seng added. In the intervening years, Australia displaced the United States as the top beef exporter to Japan.
The first shipment of U.S. beef in nearly two years, 4.6 tons from California, arrived in Japan last week. That shipment was bought by Marudai Food Co., which said it will use the meat for sampling and testing, not for sale to consumers.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
