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Japan

U.S. Beef Return Boosts Beef Bowl Restaurants

Japanese beef bowl restaurant chains are successfully using the return of U.S. beef as a sales-enhancing marketing tool to draw in consumers, disproving many media reports that the Japanese would shun U.S. beef due to fears of its safety.

Gyu-Kaku today (Oct. 6) resumed serving U.S. beef at six of its grilled meat restaurants in the Tokyo area, with additional plans to add U.S. beef to the menu of 400 outlets as early as next spring.

Although large shipments of U.S. beef are difficult for Japanese importers to secure due to the cattle age requirement, Gyu-Kaku hopes to serve U.S. beef at all 790 outlets by next August. It is estimated the chain would need 100 metric tons of product per month to reach that goal.

“Japanese traders recognize the quality and unique flavor of U.S. beef,” USMEF President and CEO Phil Seng said. “With a scarcity of cattle, the challenge is maintaining a steady supply at a competitive price.”

Seng noted stringent customs inspection standards and import tariffs increase the price of U.S. beef.

Yoshinoya, a popular rice bowl chain, announced Thursday (Oct. 5) sales increased 13.4 percent from last year, recording the first double-digit increase since May. The growth was partially due to a one-day resumption (Sept. 18) of U.S. beef bowl sales. Yoshinoya sold approximately 1.13 million beef bowls that day and sales have increased 10 percent since then even though U.S. beef bowls are not on the menu due to limited supply.

Japan

U.S. Beef Return Boosts Beef Bowl Restaurants

Japanese beef bowl restaurant chains are successfully using the return of U.S. beef as a sales-enhancing marketing tool to draw in consumers, disproving many media reports that the Japanese would shun U.S. beef due to fears of its safety.

Gyu-Kaku today (Oct. 6) resumed serving U.S. beef at six of its grilled meat restaurants in the Tokyo area, with additional plans to add U.S. beef to the menu of 400 outlets as early as next spring.

Although large shipments of U.S. beef are difficult for Japanese importers to secure due to the cattle age requirement, Gyu-Kaku hopes to serve U.S. beef at all 790 outlets by next August. It is estimated the chain would need 100 metric tons of product per month to reach that goal.

“Japanese traders recognize the quality and unique flavor of U.S. beef,” USMEF President and CEO Phil Seng said. “With a scarcity of cattle, the challenge is maintaining a steady supply at a competitive price.”

Seng noted stringent customs inspection standards and import tariffs increase the price of U.S. beef.

Yoshinoya, a popular rice bowl chain, announced Thursday (Oct. 5) sales increased 13.4 percent from last year, recording the first double-digit increase since May. The growth was partially due to a one-day resumption (Sept. 18) of U.S. beef bowl sales. Yoshinoya sold approximately 1.13 million beef bowls that day and sales have increased 10 percent since then even though U.S. beef bowls are not on the menu due to limited supply.