USMEF Heartland Team Visits Japan
Hear/Download the Audio Report HERE.
A team of 24 leaders and producers from beef, pork, corn and soybean organizations from across the U.S. visited Japan last week to see firsthand the marketing efforts of U.S. beef and pork in the country by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
The group visited retail displays, a beef tongue processing facility, a processing facility and wagyu auction in the heart of Tokyo and shared photos of their farms with students at a culinary school. They also received staff briefings from USMEF Japan and the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service.
Travis Maddock, a cattle producer from Maddock, ND who was on the tour representing the North Dakota Beef Commission, notes the Japanese consumers are used to high marbling in domestic wagyu which makes U.S. Prime a good fit for the market. Meanwhile, demand in Japan for variety meats like tongues builds carcass value for U.S. producers.
Gordon Spronk of the National Pork Board who farms in Edgerton, Minn. visited a number of restaurants serving tonkatsu, a dish featuring breaded pork loin. Many of those restuarants feature U.S. pork, providing a key market for a cut that is undervalued in the U.S.
The Japan office was the first foreign office opened by USMEF in 1977. As the red meat trade relationship with Japan through USMEF gets ready to celebrate 50 years, that trade has surpassed a key milestone. USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom says, according to trade data from USDA, U.S. beef and pork sales to Japan since 1977 surpassed the $100 billion mark in July.