Intensive Chef Training Encourages Purchases of U.S. Beef, U.S. Pork
Intensive Chef Training Encourages Purchases of U.S. Beef, U.S. Pork
A team of Thai chefs went through two days of intensive training on U.S. beef and pork at the USMEF Singapore Culinary Training Center last week. USMEF ASEAN Director Sabrina Yin shared her extensive knowledge on cuts, specifications, cornfed U.S. beef and grainfed U.S. pork, storage and handling and the principles of cooking after an overview of the U.S. beef industry and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
For U.S. beef, Sabrina concentrated on menu ideas for top blade muscle, rib finger, short plate, shoulder petite tender and inside skirt. On the U.S. pork side, she extolled the advantages of bone-in loin, CT butt, precooked bacon and sausages.
The restaurant business is ever-evolving, and Thai chefs place high value on courses that keep them abreast of the latest food trends in the U.S. and the rest of Asia. Courses like this are true educational experiences and they enhance familiarity with U.S. cuts. They enlighten chefs about the profitability, nutrition and palatability of a wide range of U.S. beef and pork cuts to mitigate the common perception that U.S. beef is not price competitive.
Thai chefs are eager to learn more about U.S. pork and beef products and how to most profitably cook them
The U.S. Meat Culinary Training for ASEAN Chefs seminar was a continuation of USMEF-ASEAN’s Emerging Market Asian Culinary Program and carefully planned in line with USMEF’s Intensified Customers Contact (ICC) strategy. This strategy means that USMEF works closely with targeted buyers and opinion makers through “Intensified Customer Contact” to find ways to incorporate increased purchases of U.S. beef and pork into their business plans. The ICC approach relies on close and frequent contact between USMEF staff in the international markets and key decision-makers at targeted accounts.
“Chefs are key decision makers,” Sabrina said. “They want to buy U.S. pork and beef cuts if they understand how best to utilize them. In addition, the ICC approach ensures USMEF plays an integral role in the market by building strong relationships with local meat business leaders.”
Sabrina demonstrated how to cook 14 different recipes from both Western and Oriental cuisine and emphasized the use of secondary cuts because of the limited U.S. cuts available in Thailand. Because of strict bone chip inspection requirements in Thailand, many importers will not deviate from the higher-priced boneless muscle cuts. Currently, Thailand is banning imports of raw U.S. pork due to the A-H1N1 virus. USMEF continues to work with the USDA to persuade Thailand and the other countries banning U.S. pork to lift influenza-related import restrictions.
In post-course surveys, all the participants agreed that the course and the choice of topics were “excellent” and that they had learned new information on U.S. beef and pork which would be useful to them in their profession.
The chef training was a multispecies program in line with USMEF’s multispecies, multisector structure. It was funded by the USDA Market Access Program and the Beef and Pork Checkoff Programs. The team of nine chefs and restaurant owners and one importer from the Thai capital, Bangkok, and the tourist mecca, Phuket, were presented with notes, meat charts, educational brochures and information leaflets, and watched videos on “The American Meat Tradition,” “Chefs & Foodservice Operators’ Guide to Beef,” “Export Cuts of U.S. Beef,” “U.S. Pork Production and Harvest” and NPPC’s “Pork: A Fresh New Look.”
U.S. beef and beef variety meat exports to the ASEAN region in 2008 totaled 53,452 metric tons (117.8 million pounds), more than triple the 2007 volume, with a value of $165 million, an increase of 258 percent. The overall market share for U.S. beef rose to 10 percent from 3 percent in 2007.
U.S. pork and pork variety meat exports to the ASEAN region for 2008 were up 272 percent in volume to 58,238 metric tons (128.4 million pounds) and 278 percent in value to $115.5 million. U.S. market share more than tripled to 20 percent in 2008, up from 6 percent in 2007.
# # #
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 and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
Intensive Chef Training Encourages Purchases of U.S. Beef, U.S. Pork
A team of Thai chefs went through two days of intensive training on U.S. beef and pork at the USMEF Singapore Culinary Training Center last week. USMEF ASEAN Director Sabrina Yin shared her extensive knowledge on cuts, specifications, cornfed U.S. beef and grainfed U.S. pork, storage and handling and the principles of cooking after an overview of the U.S. beef industry and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
For U.S. beef, Sabrina concentrated on menu ideas for top blade muscle, rib finger, short plate, shoulder petite tender and inside skirt. On the U.S. pork side, she extolled the advantages of bone-in loin, CT butt, precooked bacon and sausages.
The restaurant business is ever-evolving, and Thai chefs place high value on courses that keep them abreast of the latest food trends in the U.S. and the rest of Asia. Courses like this are true educational experiences and they enhance familiarity with U.S. cuts. They enlighten chefs about the profitability, nutrition and palatability of a wide range of U.S. beef and pork cuts to mitigate the common perception that U.S. beef is not price competitive.
Thai chefs are eager to learn more about U.S. pork and beef products and how to most profitably cook them
The U.S. Meat Culinary Training for ASEAN Chefs seminar was a continuation of USMEF-ASEAN’s Emerging Market Asian Culinary Program and carefully planned in line with USMEF’s Intensified Customers Contact (ICC) strategy. This strategy means that USMEF works closely with targeted buyers and opinion makers through “Intensified Customer Contact” to find ways to incorporate increased purchases of U.S. beef and pork into their business plans. The ICC approach relies on close and frequent contact between USMEF staff in the international markets and key decision-makers at targeted accounts.
“Chefs are key decision makers,” Sabrina said. “They want to buy U.S. pork and beef cuts if they understand how best to utilize them. In addition, the ICC approach ensures USMEF plays an integral role in the market by building strong relationships with local meat business leaders.”
Sabrina demonstrated how to cook 14 different recipes from both Western and Oriental cuisine and emphasized the use of secondary cuts because of the limited U.S. cuts available in Thailand. Because of strict bone chip inspection requirements in Thailand, many importers will not deviate from the higher-priced boneless muscle cuts. Currently, Thailand is banning imports of raw U.S. pork due to the A-H1N1 virus. USMEF continues to work with the USDA to persuade Thailand and the other countries banning U.S. pork to lift influenza-related import restrictions.
In post-course surveys, all the participants agreed that the course and the choice of topics were “excellent” and that they had learned new information on U.S. beef and pork which would be useful to them in their profession.
The chef training was a multispecies program in line with USMEF’s multispecies, multisector structure. It was funded by the USDA Market Access Program and the Beef and Pork Checkoff Programs. The team of nine chefs and restaurant owners and one importer from the Thai capital, Bangkok, and the tourist mecca, Phuket, were presented with notes, meat charts, educational brochures and information leaflets, and watched videos on “The American Meat Tradition,” “Chefs & Foodservice Operators’ Guide to Beef,” “Export Cuts of U.S. Beef,” “U.S. Pork Production and Harvest” and NPPC’s “Pork: A Fresh New Look.”
U.S. beef and beef variety meat exports to the ASEAN region in 2008 totaled 53,452 metric tons (117.8 million pounds), more than triple the 2007 volume, with a value of $165 million, an increase of 258 percent. The overall market share for U.S. beef rose to 10 percent from 3 percent in 2007.
U.S. pork and pork variety meat exports to the ASEAN region for 2008 were up 272 percent in volume to 58,238 metric tons (128.4 million pounds) and 278 percent in value to $115.5 million. U.S. market share more than tripled to 20 percent in 2008, up from 6 percent in 2007.
# # #
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 and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.