USMEF Promotes Beef At Beirut Trade Show
Recipe posters, charts of U.S. food service cuts and other point-of-sale materials led thousands of food industry representatives to the U.S. Meat Export Federation booth at Beirut’s premier trade show, Horeca, last month. Under the slogan "U.S. Beef… A Commitment to Quality & Safety,” USMEF demonstrated the U.S. beef industry dedication to even higher food safety standards in the face of difficulties inspired by non-science-based reactions to two isolated cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Visitors received brochures detailing the safety and quality attributes of U.S. beef as well as the merits of the USMEF American Beef Club, an organization of member restaurants committed to serving high quality U.S. beef to discerning diners. The USMEF Meat Buyers Guide, International Meat Manual and Texas Theme Night Handbook were prominently displayed at USMEF’s booth.
USMEF also put on show USDA Choice and Prime beef cuts and items, including:
• Beef rib eye 112 A lip on, USDA Choice or higher
• Beef tenderloin PSMO USDA Choice or higher
• Beef bone-in export rib 1211 109C, USDA Prime beef tenderloin Choice 6 up 189 A
• Beef export rib Choice, 109 C
• Milk-fed veal tenderloin
• Veal top inside round
In addition, a list of all local U.S. beef importers was distributed to interested hotels, restaurants and retailers. Interest in the USMEF booth was strong, reflecting the excellent potential in the region now that the market has reopened to U.S. beef.
Events such as Horeca, Lebanon’s premier regional hospitality and food service event, are ideal platforms for the essential messages of safety, quality and taste, which USMEF is seeking to print indelibly in the minds of buyers and chefs. Horeca is a dedicated food and drink exhibition for Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries and is the annual business meeting place for the food and drink industries, the hospitality and food service industries, and the retail sector.
The Middle East imports an estimated 90 percent of the beef it consumes, and demand for beef is driven by the region’s soaring population growth and improving economies. The region is considered a priority target by USMEF and its international competitors since it has a relatively young population and a high rate of growth that is expected to raise demand for beef as purchasing power increases. Moreover, with relatively little domestic beef production and little opportunity to significantly raise domestic production, beef imports are set to increase in importance. Although price is often the overriding consideration for beef sales, there are affluent Middle Eastern consumers and tourists, who can afford fine dining.
In the first five months of 2005, the United States exported 3,923 metric tons (mt) of U.S. beef and beef variety meat to the Middle East, valued at $12.98 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 –
Photo 1: A rare moment of calm at the USMEF booth at Horeca. A potential customer learns about the attributes of U.S. beef.
