The Internet has made the world more accessible than ever as social networks ...

The Internet has made the world more accessible than ever as social networks such as dating services, chat rooms and message boards are used to connect people with common interests. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) utilized the super-highway recently to build loyalty and demand for U.S. pork in South Korea.

A popular online community called BBQ Mania in one of the top portal sites in South Korea has nearly 6,500 members and attracts those with a passion for barbecue. In addition to online communication, the group has offline meetings so members can meet one another and share barbecue secrets.

“A real challenge for us in Korea is the strong loyalty consumers have to domestic pork products,” said USMEF Korea Director Jihae Yang. “We want to have direct contact with consumers to better inform them about the quality and great taste of wholesome U.S. pork.”

USMEF saw an opportunity to introduce U.S. pork to this group by providing meat for a two-day BBQ Mania summer meeting that included members and their families. The BBQ Mania community leaders demonstrated barbecuing and smoking U.S. pork cuts of Boston butt, spare ribs and belly.

The community leaders have an in-depth knowledge of meat and recognize U.S. pork as a superior product for barbecue. They delivered positive messages about U.S. pork during their cooking demonstrations and the BBQ Mania members were receptive to this information due to their strong interest in meat and barbecue.

“The BBQ Mania community leaders are really professional consumers,” said Yang. “They were ideal spokespeople for U.S. pork because they are credible and other Korean consumers look for and believe their opinions.”

For those members unable to attend the summer get-together, there were many positive messages posted online about this event. Comments included, “the taste of the grilled Boston butt was marvelous – beyond our expectation,” “the seasoning rub was great, but I believe the pork’s quality was the most important factor in the delicious taste” and “the meat on the spare ribs was much thicker than domestic.”

“This effort was a part of our consumer-driven approach to encourage consumers to try consistent and affordable U.S. pork products,” said Yang.

Through the first six months of this year, South Korea is the fifth largest destination for U.S. pork and pork variety meat by volume at 53,485 metric tons valued at $127.4 million, a 16 percent increase over the first half of last year. South Korea is 78-percent self-sufficient in pork production, but it has imported more pork in recent years. USMEF sees this trend continuing in Korea where pork is highly demanded for use in popular Korean barbecue restaurants.

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, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –

The following photos are available with this release:

Photo 1 – South Korea BBQ Mania community members and their families see how the quality of U.S. pork combined with sound preparation and cooking techniques produce the ultimate barbecue experience.

Photo 2 – BBQ Mania community leaders demonstrated how to cook barbecue with U.S. pork. Many online community members said the pork was the best in taste, juiciness and texture they have ever tasted.