Return to Japanese Market Creates Opportunities for U.S. Lamb Industry

U.S. lamb recently regained access to Japan, which had been closed to the product since the December 2003 case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the U.S. cattle herd. Already the leading value market for U.S. beef and pork, Japan is expected to return to its place as a top market for U.S. lamb, a result of Japanese consumers’ fondness for U.S. lamb’s flavor and consistency.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Chair Dennis Stiffler, president of the Texas division of Halperns’ Purveyors of Steak and Seafood and former CEO of Mountain States Rosen, says Japan presents an exceptional opportunity for significant export growth and that U.S. lamb producers and the lamb industry are excited about the opportunity to again export products to an upscale market.

In the attached report, Stiffler explains that 95 percent of all lamb raised in the U.S. is grain-fed, resulting in a succulent protein that will stand up well to competitors’ products in the Japanese market.

TRANSCRIPT:

Ralph Loos: The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that U.S. lamb has regained access to Japan for the first time in more than 14 years. In this U.S. Meat Export Federation report, USMEF Chair Dennis Stiffler, who spent much of his career in the lamb industry, says Japanese consumers are expected to embrace U.S. lamb’s flavor and return Japan to its position as a top market.

Dennis Stiffler: Prior to 2003, when the market in Japan was shut down, associate with BSE, lamb enjoyed a very sizable acceptance. So obviously producer and the industry are all excited about this opportunity to have that very upscale market for export products – U.S. product that really differentiates itself by very high-level quality products into the market. It is a very big opportunity for the U.S. lamb industry to further expand the export market and hopefully be able to pass that back into the feeding and live animal sectors and to increase the viability of the lamb industry.

Ralph Loos: Stiffler notes that 95 percent of all lamb raised in the U.S. is grain-fed and the red meat’s high quality stands up well to competitors’ products in the Japanese market.

Dennis Stiffler: U.S. lamb has a unique flavor profile, so the key is to get the product into the consumers and give them the ability to taste it and use it as a very high performing product, tender, good uniform, consistent unique flavor, and has all those good essential vitamins and nutrients.

Ralph Loos: For more information, please visit usmef.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Ralph Loos. # # #

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry. It is funded by USDA; the beef, pork, lamb, corn and soybean checkoff programs, as well as its members representing nine industry sectors: beef/veal producing & feeding, pork producing & feeding, lamb producing & feeding, packing & processing, purveying & trading, oilseeds producing, feedgrains producing, farm organizations and supply & service organizations.