U.S. Beef Poised for Summer Rebound in Europe

U.S. beef gained greater access to the European Union at the beginning of 2020 through a country-specific quota aimed at allowing more U.S. product to enter the EU at zero duty. But with most U.S. beef cuts traditionally consumed in Europe's foodservice and hospitality sectors, the U.S. industry struggled to fully capitalize on the revised quota due to widespread restrictions on restaurant traffic, tourism and business travel.

Yuri Barutkin, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) representative in Europe, says a silver lining to this situation is that European distributors made more U.S. beef available to the retail sector – in both online platforms and traditional outlets – where it captured the attention of European consumers looking for higher-end items to prepare at home. Barutkin expects Europe's interest in retail U.S. beef cuts to continue to expand, especially with the summer grilling season approaching. As the region gradually eases restrictions on restaurant activity and travel, this presents broad-based growth opportunities for U.S. beef.

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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. USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law. USMEF is an equal opportunity employer and provider.