The popularity of U.S. beef with Russian consumers has been growing for the ...
The popularity of U.S. beef with Russian consumers has been growing for the last couple of years, as the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has actively promoted U.S. high quality beef in the hotel, restaurant and institution (HRI) sector. Few fine-dining restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg don’t offer U.S. beef on a continuous basis and almost every second-tier restaurant has several dishes of U.S. beef on its menu. This successful investment in retail promotions laid the groundwork for the first promotion of U.S. beef in St. Petersburg’s supermarkets.
USMEF promotions have succeeded in teaching Russian consumers a great deal about safe, high-quality beef from the United States. Restaurant promotions also familiarize consumers with the product and encourage them to make retail purchases. People eat high-quality U.S. beef in restaurants and realize it’s simple to cook, safe and delicious, and then they buy it in supermarkets. For this reason, USMEF launched its first U.S. beef retail promotion in St. Petersburg last summer and successfully penetrated the city’s retail sector, carving a niche in the high-quality products market. More importantly, U.S. beef is still being sold in St. Petersburgsupermarkets two months after the completion of the promotion.
In keeping with its policy of partnerships with experienced companies, USMEF conducted the promotion in cooperation with a company that has been importing U.S. beef to St. Petersburgfor more than six years. Since the company had imported U.S. portion control steaks in large cartons unsuitable for retail trade, USMEF helped it produce attractive boxes with a Russian-language description of the meat cut (ribeye, T-bone, sirloin, tenderloin), the advantages of U.S. marbled beef, safety and quality standards of meat in the U.S. and USMEF and U.S. beef checkoff logos.
The 15 supermarkets chosen to participate in the promotion are the very finest in St. Petersburgand specialize in high-quality products. The length of the promotion — six weeks — allowed many people to become familiar with the product and get a chance to try it.
To support the promotion, USMEF produced a leaflet aimed at consumers with a description of the product and traditional American recipes for the steaks, to attract buyers’ attention. These leaflets and the boxes also carried an endorsement by a famous St. Petersburgchef, who hosts a weekend culinary show on a television channel. The chef had taken part in a USMEF chef team and supplied tips and recipes for use in the supermarket promotion. In the stores, promoters wore cowboy hats as they passed leaflets to customers.
The promotion increased weekly store sales from less than 10 kilograms (kg) to 500 kg, and since the promotion ended on Sept. 30, the 15 supermarkets taking part have sold about 1 metric ton of U.S. beef per month.
In the first nine months of 2003, U.S. beef (including variety meat) sales to Russia, the fifth largest international market by volume, totaled 49,880 metric tons valued at $39.8 million.
Russia’s economy continues to follow a growth path; the population’s purchasing power is growing, which stimulates people to turn to higher-quality sources of protein. Parliamentary elections in December 2003, aided political stability by endorsing the party most closely allied to President Vladimir Putin.
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—
Click here to view and save photo.
Photo caption: Attractive boxes told St. Petersburgconsumers just how to prepare delicious American steaks.
