U.S. Pork, Beef Take Center Stage at Popular Korean Jazz Festival

Published: Jan 22, 2016

Ricky Kim, USMEF celebrity model (center) promotes U.S. pork and beef at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in South Korea

USMEF’s work to raise awareness of U.S. pork and beef at the annual Jarasum International Jazz Festival in South Korea resulted in strong social media activity and a positive response from those attending the popular event. The festival attracted more than 200,000 people over three days. Funding support for USMEF’s interactive booth at the festival was provided by the Pork Checkoff, the Beef Checkoff Program and the USDA Market Access Program (MAP).

USMEF teamed with local restaurants to offer hamburgers and U.S. pork and beef barbecue items for festival visitors. Ricky Kim, USMEF-Korea celebrity model, and Jisoo Jang, chef at the Seoul restaurant Burger B and Beale Street, took burger and barbecue orders and discussed the attributes of U.S. pork and beef with consumers. USMEF-Korea staff also ran a popular quiz designed to spread positive messages about U.S. pork and beef.

Attendees visited the USMEF booth to get information about U.S. pork and beef and to taste burgers and barbecue dishes

“USMEF has been participating in this jazz festival since 2013, and the event is a great opportunity to meet with a wide range of consumers, from young children to older adults,” said Jihae Yang, USMEF director in Korea. “At this year’s festival, USMEF's booth was the most popular among those promoting food products.”

USMEF’s presence at the festival resulted in strong social media activity, with festival patrons and other consumers tracking and discussing USMEF’s activities on Facebook, Instagram and their personal blogs.

U.S. meat exports to Korea shone in 2015. Through November, pork/pork variety meat exports increased 27 percent year-over-year in volume (153,421 metric tons) and 11 percent in value ($433.8 million). Beef/beef variety meat exports increased 7 percent in volume (114,869 metric tons) while slipping 3 percent in value ($741.1 million). Korea’s imports of chilled U.S. beef were up 40 percent, with U.S. market share gaining 6 percentage points to 31 percent.