Promoting Popular Winter Dish “Kakuni” Increases Awareness Of U.S. Pork In Japan...

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) teamed with leading soy sauce producer Kikkoman Corporation in Japan to promote a popular winter dish called Kakuni, which was prepared with U.S. pork belly, in efforts to increase sales of U.S. pork by featuring its versatility and value.

The promotion lasted a month and sold 100,186 pounds of U.S. pork belly at 857 outlets of 11 retail chains.

The promotion positioned U.S. pork as a nutritious, tasty and safe product that can be eaten every day. It highlighted the tenderness of U.S. pork belly and its versatility in the Japanese menu.

Kakuni, or square-cut pork belly, is a traditional recipe and was the top dish young housewives polled by Kikkoman wanted to learn how to prepare. During the promotion these consumers learned they can cook Kakuni as a New Year’s meal using a simple recipe.

The dish is prepared by boiling pork belly in cooking sake, allowing it to cool and then seasoning it with soy sauce. It is served in its broth with winter vegetables.

USMEF, using checkoff funds from the National Pork Board and the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP), provided in-store recipe cards and menu booklets, which included the U.S. pork seal, and were given to consumers during the promotion.

USMEF demonstrators cooked Kakuni and served it to consumers at participating retail stores. Consumers were able to sample the tenderness of U.S. pork belly in the Kakuni dish.

In 15 days at 72 stores, retailer Yaoko sold the most U.S. pork belly at just over 22,000 pounds while Ito-Yokado sold almost 17,000 pounds in two days at 120 stores. Uny sold almost 14,000 pounds of U.S. pork belly in two days at 14 stores.

Cross-promotional efforts allowed USMEF and Kikkoman to reach a wider target audience in advertising and retail promotion.

Prior to the in-store promotions, television commercials suggested preparing the Kakuni dish with U.S. pork and Kikkoman cooking sake and soy sauce as a party dish to celebrate the holiday season.

USMEF ran advertisements in local newspapers and popular home magazines, such as Retasu Kurabu (Lettuce Club), which has a circulation of 680,000.

The Kakuni dish, the U.S. pork seal and a story of a highly-regarded restaurant owner and chef who makes Kakuni from U.S. pork belly for his customers adorned posters on Tokyo commuter trains.

The advertisements identified the nutritional benefits of U.S. pork – low in fat, light and rich in vitamin B. The safety of U.S. pork identified U.S. safety standards and regulatory systems ensure U.S. pork is a safe and healthy meat that can be used in everyday or traditional recipes.

Through the first 10 months of 2004, the United States exported 258,663 metric tons (mt) of pork and pork variety meats to Japan, a 12 percent increase over the same period in 2003.

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 –

Also for use with this news release:

Photo 1 – USMEF demonstrator offers Kakuni dish made with U.S. pork belly to a Japanese consumer. The promotion gave consumers a chance to sample U.S. pork, which is affordable especially during the winter season.

Photo 2 – An in-store Kakuni promotion includes posters of the Kakuni dish, a USMEF demonstrator and cross merchandising U.S. pork and Kikkoman cooking sake and soy sauce.