Recipes, free samples and the quality, nutrition and delicious taste of U.S. ...

Recipes, free samples and the quality, nutrition and delicious taste of U.S. pork filled Japanese supermarkets in September. Retail promotions by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) held at a variety of stores in the Tokyo area, educated consumers and got their mouths watering for U.S. pork.

Approximately 800 stores belonging to major supermarket chains Daiei, Ito Yokado, Maruetsu, Inageya and Ozeki, participated in U.S. pork promotions funded in part by the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Chilled U.S. pork loin, butts and bellies were featured at the participating retail stores. Cooking demonstrations and samples gave shoppers an opportunity to see firsthand how to cook U.S. pork and taste the delicious results.

“Conducting sampling and cooking demonstrations of frozen and chilled pork emphasizes the superior flavor and quality of U.S. pork,” said USMEF-Japan Senior Marketing Director Takemichi Yamashoji. “This type of in-store promotion also provides an opportunity for consumers to ask questions and learn new recipes.”

USMEF provided a variety of menu ideas such as "Ginger pork," cold pork “Shabu Shabu” salad and "Nibuta" hot pot.

The retail pork promotions gave participating stores an opportunity to feature, display and highlight the benefits of U.S. pork. After the promotions ended, stores expect sales to be 10 to 15 percent higher than pre-promotion levels.

Later this month, USMEF is planning to conduct a U.S. pork promotion funded by the pork checkoff with Wako Co., Ltd., the owner of Tonkatsu Restaurants, which has more then 86 outlets across Japan. The restaurant regularly uses U.S. pork in tonkatsu, a fried breaded cutlet dish.

A new menu item, fried oyster with tonkatsu, featuring U.S. pork, has been created for the promotion and will be highlighted at all 86 restaurants. Wako will also produce a cookbook of its menu items as a take-home gift for customers.

Japan is the top destination for U.S. pork. Through July of this year, U.S. exports of pork to Japan increased 17 percent in volume to 219,492 metric tons and 15 percent in value to $679.9 million.

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 –