The U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) finding in late December, 20...
The U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) finding in late December, 2003 produced a quick and steep drop in beef consumption in Korea. With the U.S. accounting for roughly half of total beef consumption in Korea in 2003, the ban on U.S. beef raised new doubts about beef safety, and resulted in significant dislocations in the restaurant and retail industry. Australian, New Zealand and domestic beef supplies have been unable to compensate for the lost tonnage. Instead, high Australian and domestic beef prices have met with consumer resistance, resulting in lower volumes of beef being sold and a total decline in beef demand estimated at 30 percent (as of mid-May, 2004). Domestic cattle prices declined approximately 20 percent during the five-month period December through May.
With media attention to BSE subsiding, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has formulated a strategy to help rebuild confidence in the beef supply and restore beef consumption. Although USMEF ran a low-key public relations and trade outreach effort for the period immediately following the BSE finding, at the urging of members of the trade and some end users, USMEF has embarked on a staged campaign to disseminate a more proactive and positive image of beef to the public.
The decision on the scope and nature of the campaign is a complex one, as too strong a campaign could stimulate renewed media attention on the beef safety issue, while too small a campaign would have no impact. As one of its initial post-BSE consumer outreach efforts, USMEF decided to participate in the Hi Seoul Festival in early May as a key test of consumer receptivity to U.S. beef.
The Hi Seoul Festival, an effort by Seoul’s municipal government to showcase the city’s attractions, was staged in downtown Seoul. The weeklong festival lasted eight days, but food booths were set up on the weekend of May 8 and 9 only.
USMEF set up a 27 square meter booth featuring U.S. beef and pork barbeque offerings. Festival organizers required participants to sell their products, and USMEF decided to present a four-item menu selling at near giveaway prices. The four menu items offered – each at a price of roughly $0.90 per serving - consisted of “Texas Rub Steak & Potato Salad” (chuck roll), U.S. Beef Barbecue & Potato Salad (chuck roll), “U.S. Pork Cheese Sausage Barbecue” and “U.S. Pork Smoked Sausage Barbecue.” Over 5,000 servings were sold, with all proceeds going to the “Love Request” charity, an organization operated by Korea Broadcasting System’s (KBS) 1 TV station. The Love Request charity is structured around a weekend primetime KBS show highlighting the plight of various disadvantaged Korean groups, such as the elderly, the disabled, and orphans. As a participant in Hi Seoul, USMEF will be acknowledged on the May 16 television show. The public relations value of this donation is approximately $4,480 (Ad value x 8 seconds. Base: 9,160,000 won per 15 seconds on prime time Saturday 7-8 p.m.)
During the festival, USMEF informally canvassed the attitudes of consumers toward U.S. beef and beef consumption in general. It found that consumers who attended the Hi Seoul promotion were not concerned with BSE or other food safety issues of U.S. beef, and the large number of servings sold attest to consumer confidence in the product. USMEF’s participation at the Hi Seoul Festival is a component of an overall USMEF campaign to help restore confidence in U.S. beef and beef in general. USMEF’s participation, and the consumer response, was gauged as a crucial indicator of current consumer attitudes toward U.S. beef. Based on the strong anecdotal evidence indicating general confidence in consuming U.S. beef, USMEF plans to scale up its beef consumption effort with a print media campaign, and an eat beef campaign co-sponsored by several domestic associations such as those representing the retail industry, chefs, and the local dairy cattle industry. The objective of these campaigns is to relieve public anxiety over BSE (U.S. beef accounted for approximately 50 percent of total beef consumption in 2003), and build popular support for a re-opening of Korea to U.S. beef imports.
USMEF’s participation in the Hi Seoul Festival was funded by the National Pork Board, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, and USDA’s Market Access Program.
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.
Click here to view photos of USMEF’s participation at the Hi Seoul Festival:
Photo 1: USMEF demonstrators cook U.S. beef and pork dishes at the Hi Seoul Festival
Photo 2: TexasRub Steak, U.S. Beef Barbecue, U.S. Pork Cheese Sausage and U.S. Pork Smoked Sausage were big hits with South Korean consumers at the Hi Seoul Festival
