The U.S. Meat Export Federation recently launched an extraordinary marketing ...
Ongoing promotional efforts in the No. 1 international buyer of U.S. beef, however, were scoring small victories in the war to regain sales volume even before the launch of the latest effort.
One example was the recent joint “O-bento” beef promotion with the Nippon Restaurants Enterprise (NRE) of the Japan Railway Group. The O-bento product featured was a branded take-out lunch box product, or “bento,” made with chuck-eye roll, totally produced in the U.S. and directly exported to Japan as a frozen consumer pack.
Considering the impact of BSE on consumer demand in Japan, USMEF and NRE had planned only a two-month promotion at 75 outlets located in Japan railway stations in the Tokyo area. The promotion incorporated the USMEF logo and the campaign message: “Beef that you can trust for your loving family.” These rail depot locations were some of the more than 30,000 outlets that worked with USMEF to promote U.S. beef safety as part of its “anshin” campaign launched immediately after the discovery of BSE in Japan last year.
The number of passengers at the main Tokyo station is about 320,000 per day, while the number in the total Tokyo area is closer to 8 million per day. Despite demand concerns, however, featured products became out of stock by the middle of promotion period. More than 40,000 packs of sukiyaki O-bento were sold during this time. Since one serving includes about 80 grams of beef, sales amounted to about 3.2 metric tons. NRE is now considering expanding the promotion period.
“This is a good example of a successful promotion featuring U.S. beef that is supported with clear safety message to consumers,” said Takemichi Yamashoji, USMEF-Tokyo director. “The U.S. industry and our in-country cooperator saw increased sales volume as a result.”
In March, the new $8-million effort – dubbed the “aisareru beef,” or “desire beef,” campaign – began delivering messages of safety, taste and nutrition directly to Japanese mothers with children living at home. The immediate objective is to generate consumer confidence in U.S. beef, then build intent to buy and use it. Longer term, the goal is to have U.S. beef identified as safe, nutritious, delicious and healthy. In addition to advertising, therefore, public relations activities will provide science-based nutrition news to help consumers better understand the role beef plays in providing the zinc, iron, protein and B-vitamins their families need to remain strong and healthy. These themes will be carried to retail outlets and restaurants through coordinated trade activities.
Japan is the No. 1 U.S. beef export market. 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. High U.S. beef prices and demand combined with a strong dollar against the yen and a weak Japanese economy to push U.S. imports lower prior to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the Japanese herd in September.
In 2001, according to revised USDA statistics, total U.S. beef exports declined in volume by .4 percent to 1.274 million metric tons, while value declined by 5.7 percent to $ 3.406 billion. Higher U.S. beef prices and a strong U.S. dollar helped push export volumes slightly lower for the first time in more than 10 years. Exports now account for nearly 13.4 percent of U.S. beef production on a wholesale weight basis.
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.
"Bento" Beef Campaign Photo (right click on photo and select "save photo as" to save.)
Consumers crowd around a Japan railway station booth offering U.S.-made O-bento meals during a recent promotion in Tokyo. This was one of more than 30,000 outlets working with the U.S. Meat Export Federation to promote U.S. beef.
-- USMEF --