South Korea | USMEF Provides Technical And Issues Management Support | As neg...
South Korea
USMEF Provides Technical And Issues Management Support
As negotiations on beef trade between the United States and South Korea continued this week, USMEF Senior Vice President Export Services Paul Clayton and Assistant Director Export Services Kevin Smith were on hand at the request of the USTR in Seoul to provide technical support for U.S. negotiators. Clayton and Smith helped explain and demonstrate U.S. bone tolerances and allowable tissues and to engage South Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials on these subjects.
Meanwhile, USMEF-Korea continued to work with media regarding the impact of high beef prices on Korean consumers. Media are finding that Korean consumers believe they are suffering as a result of the ban on U.S. beef for two reasons: first, they believe the products available do not taste as good and, second, prices are much higher.
Reinforcing consumer dismay are a series of beef checkoff funded ads depicting Koreans living in the United States who enjoy the rich taste and reasonable price of U.S. beef in their daily lives. The ads ask why their cousins living in Korea can’t have access to the same safe beef supply as they have. Even one non-government organization, Consumers Korea, has joined the call to open the border to U.S. beef so Korean consumers will have greater access and lower prices.
USMEF-Korea also released this week survey results of nearly 1,000 restaurant owners developed in cooperation with the Korean Restaurant Association, which indicates that a majority are ready to return U.S. beef to their menus. According to the survey, restaurant owners report the most frequently found consumer complaint is that ‘beef doesn’t taste as good as before’ (38.9 percent) and ‘beef price has increased’ (62.1 percent). The survey also found 70.9 percent of restaurants have reported the price of beef they are selling has increased since the U.S. beef ban, and the average price increase rate was 44.5 percent.
Questioned when they would use U.S. beef when import is resumed, 65.8 percent responded that they will purchase or consider purchasing U.S. beef for their restaurants; 69.8 percent of the restaurants answered that sales have dropped since December 2003, and explained the main reasons as beef price increase and meat consumption reduction due to well-being trend.
To cope with the sales fall, the restaurants have considered reducing the number of employees (71.6 percent), change the type of business (39.5 percent) or shut down business (21.8 percent), all these imply the difficulties the restaurant industry has gone through after the end of the year 2003.
South Korea
USMEF Provides Technical And Issues Management Support
As negotiations on beef trade between the United States and South Korea continued this week, USMEF Senior Vice President Export Services Paul Clayton and Assistant Director Export Services Kevin Smith were on hand at the request of the USTR in Seoul to provide technical support for U.S. negotiators. Clayton and Smith helped explain and demonstrate U.S. bone tolerances and allowable tissues and to engage South Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials on these subjects.
Meanwhile, USMEF-Korea continued to work with media regarding the impact of high beef prices on Korean consumers. Media are finding that Korean consumers believe they are suffering as a result of the ban on U.S. beef for two reasons: first, they believe the products available do not taste as good and, second, prices are much higher.
Reinforcing consumer dismay are a series of beef checkoff funded ads depicting Koreans living in the United States who enjoy the rich taste and reasonable price of U.S. beef in their daily lives. The ads ask why their cousins living in Korea can’t have access to the same safe beef supply as they have. Even one non-government organization, Consumers Korea, has joined the call to open the border to U.S. beef so Korean consumers will have greater access and lower prices.
USMEF-Korea also released this week survey results of nearly 1,000 restaurant owners developed in cooperation with the Korean Restaurant Association, which indicates that a majority are ready to return U.S. beef to their menus. According to the survey, restaurant owners report the most frequently found consumer complaint is that ‘beef doesn’t taste as good as before’ (38.9 percent) and ‘beef price has increased’ (62.1 percent). The survey also found 70.9 percent of restaurants have reported the price of beef they are selling has increased since the U.S. beef ban, and the average price increase rate was 44.5 percent.
Questioned when they would use U.S. beef when import is resumed, 65.8 percent responded that they will purchase or consider purchasing U.S. beef for their restaurants; 69.8 percent of the restaurants answered that sales have dropped since December 2003, and explained the main reasons as beef price increase and meat consumption reduction due to well-being trend.
To cope with the sales fall, the restaurants have considered reducing the number of employees (71.6 percent), change the type of business (39.5 percent) or shut down business (21.8 percent), all these imply the difficulties the restaurant industry has gone through after the end of the year 2003.