Promoting U.S. Beef and Pork at Japan’s Most Famous Hotels
Promoting U.S. Beef and Pork at Japan’s Most Famous Hotels
To expand the high-end market for U.S. beef and pork, USMEF-Japan has been actively collaborating with the nation’s most famous and traditional hotels, including Hotel Okura, Teikoku Hotel and the Rihga Royal Hotel. After extensive outreach, these efforts are paying off.
These luxury hotels are known for providing the best quality and service to their customers and traditionally use domestic meat such as Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork. As such, they have usually been reluctant to introduce or promote imports. But as result of USMEF’s aggressive promotion and positive relationships in the industry, several leading hotels have recently begun to conduct U.S. beef and pork menu promotions and related events. This development will not only have a huge impact on the entire Japanese food service industry, but is also attracting considerable attention from Japanese media. Some specific promotions include:
Teikoku Hotel
The Teikoku Hotel Tokyo, one of the most famous and traditional hotels in Japan, recently completed a trial use of U.S. beef products at its restaurant. Teikoku management received very favorable feedback from customers, which prompted them to conduct a longer promotion this summer. Beginning in July, the hotel is running a Hawaiian menu promotion using U.S. beef, which includes USMEF’s “We Care” logo on its point-of-sale materials.
“It’s very rare for these hotels to use any logos in their promotions,” said USMEF Japan Director Gregory Hanes. “So we are very pleased that they are proactively highlighting American beef.”
Hotel Okura Tokyo
The Hotel Okura Tokyo has once again begun serving U.S. beef at its Teppanyaki restaurant, featuring lunch and dinner course menus on weekends and national holidays. The hotel recently conducted its first tasting for media, inviting 10 high-quality culinary magazines and newspapers to publicize the hotel’s commitment to stand behind U.S. beef products as healthy and delicious menu items.
The Tokyo Okura’s President and General Manager, Masahiro Kiyohara, and USMEF’s Gregory Hanes assist with judging during the Hotel Okura Tokyo’s “American Pork Cooking Contest”
On July 14, USMEF sponsored Hotel Okura Tokyo’s “American Pork Cooking Contest.” This was the very first internal cooking contest for the hotel, with the hotel’s president and chairperson participating as two of the five judges. A total of 36 young chefs prepared original recipes using three separate American pork items: loin, tenderloin and baby back ribs.
The participating chefs, who represented the Okura’s catering group as well as Japanese, Western, Chinese and French restaurants, commended the quality, taste and versatility of U.S. pork. The event was very well-received and well-publicized, and Hotel Okura is planning to include the winning items on its menu in the near future.
“The commitment of the Okura to dedicate almost a full day for 36 chefs and their top management really demonstrates the great progress we have been able to achieve in raising the perceptions of U.S. pork compared to domestic,” noted Hanes.
Rihga Royal Hotel
To celebrate its first U.S. beef menu promotion, Rihga Royal Hotel in Osaka held an opening ceremony July 1, inviting 30 news reporters from the area. Hanes attended the ceremony to provide opening remarks and to explain the positive attributes of U.S. beef.
U.S. beef featured at the Rihga Royal Hotel in Osaka
“Osaka is a famous beef-consuming area in Japan, and its residents are very fond of beef dishes, however this area has been a bit slower in readopting U.S. beef,” Hanes said. “This promotion will have a very positive influence on the food service industry in Osaka as other establishments see that leading, high-end hotels have introduced U.S. beef on their menus.”
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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 and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
Promoting U.S. Beef and Pork at Japan’s Most Famous Hotels
To expand the high-end market for U.S. beef and pork, USMEF-Japan has been actively collaborating with the nation’s most famous and traditional hotels, including Hotel Okura, Teikoku Hotel and the Rihga Royal Hotel. After extensive outreach, these efforts are paying off.
These luxury hotels are known for providing the best quality and service to their customers and traditionally use domestic meat such as Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork. As such, they have usually been reluctant to introduce or promote imports. But as result of USMEF’s aggressive promotion and positive relationships in the industry, several leading hotels have recently begun to conduct U.S. beef and pork menu promotions and related events. This development will not only have a huge impact on the entire Japanese food service industry, but is also attracting considerable attention from Japanese media. Some specific promotions include:
Teikoku Hotel
The Teikoku Hotel Tokyo, one of the most famous and traditional hotels in Japan, recently completed a trial use of U.S. beef products at its restaurant. Teikoku management received very favorable feedback from customers, which prompted them to conduct a longer promotion this summer. Beginning in July, the hotel is running a Hawaiian menu promotion using U.S. beef, which includes USMEF’s “We Care” logo on its point-of-sale materials.
“It’s very rare for these hotels to use any logos in their promotions,” said USMEF Japan Director Gregory Hanes. “So we are very pleased that they are proactively highlighting American beef.”
Hotel Okura Tokyo
The Hotel Okura Tokyo has once again begun serving U.S. beef at its Teppanyaki restaurant, featuring lunch and dinner course menus on weekends and national holidays. The hotel recently conducted its first tasting for media, inviting 10 high-quality culinary magazines and newspapers to publicize the hotel’s commitment to stand behind U.S. beef products as healthy and delicious menu items.
The Tokyo Okura’s President and General Manager, Masahiro Kiyohara, and USMEF’s Gregory Hanes assist with judging during the Hotel Okura Tokyo’s “American Pork Cooking Contest”
On July 14, USMEF sponsored Hotel Okura Tokyo’s “American Pork Cooking Contest.” This was the very first internal cooking contest for the hotel, with the hotel’s president and chairperson participating as two of the five judges. A total of 36 young chefs prepared original recipes using three separate American pork items: loin, tenderloin and baby back ribs.
The participating chefs, who represented the Okura’s catering group as well as Japanese, Western, Chinese and French restaurants, commended the quality, taste and versatility of U.S. pork. The event was very well-received and well-publicized, and Hotel Okura is planning to include the winning items on its menu in the near future.
“The commitment of the Okura to dedicate almost a full day for 36 chefs and their top management really demonstrates the great progress we have been able to achieve in raising the perceptions of U.S. pork compared to domestic,” noted Hanes.
Rihga Royal Hotel
To celebrate its first U.S. beef menu promotion, Rihga Royal Hotel in Osaka held an opening ceremony July 1, inviting 30 news reporters from the area. Hanes attended the ceremony to provide opening remarks and to explain the positive attributes of U.S. beef.
U.S. beef featured at the Rihga Royal Hotel in Osaka
“Osaka is a famous beef-consuming area in Japan, and its residents are very fond of beef dishes, however this area has been a bit slower in readopting U.S. beef,” Hanes said. “This promotion will have a very positive influence on the food service industry in Osaka as other establishments see that leading, high-end hotels have introduced U.S. beef on their menus.”
# # #
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.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.