Tastefully Done – U.S. Pork Makes Japan Video Debut

Rika Yukimasa stars with U.S. pork in new digital videos

Long a staple in meat cases throughout Japan, U.S. pork made its on-screen debut recently as the center-of-plate star in several short digital videos designed to whet consumers’ appetites as Japan moves into prime winter pork season.

The new pork features, which costar celebrity cooking specialist Rika Yukimasa, are the latest element in USMEF-Japan’s campaign to promote thick-cut U.S. pork. Produced with funding from the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and the Pork Checkoff, the videos provide a tasteful and entertaining how-to for consumers on the cooking process for a perfect pork roast.

USMEF's digital pork videos can be viewed on smart phones

“Many consumers are not familiar with how to prepare thick-cut pork,” said Tazuko Hijikata, senior manager of consumer affairs for USMEF-Japan. “Seeing Ms. Yukimasa demonstrate her three-step cooking method while explaining the positive attributes of U.S. pork is very helpful for consumers as they follow along.”

The winter pork campaign includes the videos and other pork recipes and meal preparation information on the USMEF-Japan Facebook page, as well as on YouTube and on ads on commuter trains. And the new digital videos are formatted for easy viewing on smart phones as well.

In addition, USMEF is conducting a separate promotion that gives 200 consumers a chance to win 500-gram samples – just over one pound – of thick-cut U.S. pork (samples provided by several USMEF members), while another 5,000 can win a 2014 American pork calendar that features monthly U.S. pork recipes and educational information on topics including U.S. pork nutrition.

Through the first seven months of 2013, Japan remains the No. 1 value and No. 2 volume market (behind Mexico) for U.S. pork exports, purchasing 250,899 metric tons (553.1 million pounds) of product valued at more than $1.1 billion.