Long Beach, Calif. (November 7, 2002) – More women working, marrying later,...

Long Beach, Calif. (November 7, 2002) – More women working, marrying later, having smaller families, and pressed for time.

This could be a description of America.

But it also is an accurate description of modern Japan, according to research reviewed during a presentation by USMEF-Tokyo Consumer Affairs Manager Shinobu Shimada at the annual U.S. Meat Export Federation board of directors meeting here today. 

Shimada noted that more Japanese women now work outside the home and fewer are married with children. Those who are married and working still put in eight times the number of hours as their spouses in maintaining their homes – cleaning, cooking and caring for children. While they are moving away from multi-course traditional Japanese meals that can take hours to prepare, they still spend 30 to 45 minutes preparing dinner meals with three to four dishes nearly every day.

Like consumers in many countries, Japanese women consumers have a strong preference for domestic products and are concerned about a variety of food safety issues. And while they once trusted labels, most no longer do as the result of months of news media revelations that major Japanese brands had mislabeled products to pad their corporate profits. Still, they want to know where their food comes from and what has happened to it along the way to their dinner table.

When it comes to U.S. meat products, many Japanese consumers consider the U.S. so advanced in technology that its producers wouldn’t hesitate to use genetically modified organisms to feed their cows. On the other hand, more than half said they’d be willing to try American premium brands.

While research relating to Japanese consumer product preferences may seem somewhat confusing and even contradictory, Shimada noted that USMEF-conducted research found certain messages to be clear and consistent: Japanese consumers are concerned about safety, prefer natural to artificial, want freshness, nutrition, taste and quality for the price paid, and are always looking for new recipe ideas. More than most U.S. consumers, they want the story behind the products they choose.

Shimada said ongoing study of Japanese consumers is helping USMEF address poor perceptions among many consumers of U.S. beef and pork and is helping to build lasting trust among consumers through U.S. “brand” awareness.

In 2001, according to revised USDA statistics, total U.S. beef exports were 1.274 million metric tons, with a value of $ 3.406 billion. Exports now account for nearly 13.4 percent of U.S. beef production on a wholesale weight basis. Japan remains the No. 1 U.S. beef export market, but USDA statistics for 2001 show U.S. exports to Japan declined 6 percent in volume from the record year of 2000, at 513,563 metric tons, while value was off 11 percent to about $1.6 billion.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation 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, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –