Japan U.S. Beef Holiday Campaign

The early returns from a USMEF Retail Holiday Campaign conducted at 28 supermarket chains during December show that the beef promotion was a huge success. Results are in from one large chain, which supplemented the promotion with a special four-day sampling demonstration.  The USMEF campaign helped boost their U.S. beef sales more than eight times above those from a similar promotion last year, and jump-started sales for the entire month by nearly 350 percent.

The national chain reported that sales of targeted U.S. beef cuts for home party dishes in the year-end holiday season jumped from 17 metric tons (37,478 pounds) to more than 76 metric tons (167,550 pounds).  This chain represented nearly one-quarter of the estimated 1,200 stores involved in the promotion.  Their buyer noted: “The interest from consumers in the promotion has been extremely high and sales have been much better than we hoped.”

The biggest seller reported by this supermarket chain was chuck-eye roll, followed by strip loin and top round.

“The economic recession has encouraged some Japanese consumers to cut back on eating out at restaurants and focus more on meals at home,” said Greg Hanes, USMEF director for Japan. “Since we knew that steaks are a popular item during the holidays – and many Japanese retailers would feature sirloin steaks along with or instead of chuck-eye roll steaks, this campaign was geared toward these steak items.”

Hanes also noted that the recent strength of the yen and the weak U.S. economy have contributed to make U.S. beef middle meat cuts even more attractively priced than normal in the past few months. 

The 28 major retail chains participating in the U.S. Beef Holiday Campaign included Daiei, Ito Yokado and Seiyu/Wal-Mart. USMEF developed special holiday promotion point-of-purchase materials, and more than 200 outlets of the participating retailers also provided tasting demonstrations. 

One participating retailer also promoted U.S. pork items: spareribs and tenderloin for party menus, CC loin, CT butt, and belly for pork shabu-shabu.

The early returns from a USMEF Retail Holiday Campaign conducted at 28 supermarket chains during December show that the beef promotion was a huge success. Results are in from one large chain, which supplemented the promotion with a special four-day sampling demonstration.  The USMEF campaign helped boost their U.S. beef sales more than eight times above those from a similar promotion last year, and jump-started sales for the entire month by nearly 350 percent.

The national chain reported that sales of targeted U.S. beef cuts for home party dishes in the year-end holiday season jumped from 17 metric tons (37,478 pounds) to more than 76 metric tons (167,550 pounds).  This chain represented nearly one-quarter of the estimated 1,200 stores involved in the promotion.  Their buyer noted: “The interest from consumers in the promotion has been extremely high and sales have been much better than we hoped.”

The biggest seller reported by this supermarket chain was chuck-eye roll, followed by strip loin and top round.

“The economic recession has encouraged some Japanese consumers to cut back on eating out at restaurants and focus more on meals at home,” said Greg Hanes, USMEF director for Japan. “Since we knew that steaks are a popular item during the holidays – and many Japanese retailers would feature sirloin steaks along with or instead of chuck-eye roll steaks, this campaign was geared toward these steak items.”

Hanes also noted that the recent strength of the yen and the weak U.S. economy have contributed to make U.S. beef middle meat cuts even more attractively priced than normal in the past few months. 

The 28 major retail chains participating in the U.S. Beef Holiday Campaign included Daiei, Ito Yokado and Seiyu/Wal-Mart. USMEF developed special holiday promotion point-of-purchase materials, and more than 200 outlets of the participating retailers also provided tasting demonstrations. 

One participating retailer also promoted U.S. pork items: spareribs and tenderloin for party menus, CC loin, CT butt, and belly for pork shabu-shabu.