USMEF Strategic Market Profile

Caribbean

• The retail sector in the Caribbean is beginning to transition from frozen beef to fresh beef. At the food service level, the trend is towards portion control products and brands.
• New hotel and restaurant chains are linking up with U.S. buying houses in Florida, which promote allegiances to U.S. food products. 
• Purchasing relationships are being established with U.S. suppliers, rather than going through local distributors, forcing local distributors to offer more favorable pricing structures to their customers.
• Importers are beginning to cut their own steaks, manufacture deli meats and value-added products, and otherwise mimic fresh beef products imported from the U.S. 

• Record setting U.S. beef prices have not led to the expected downturn due to the growth in tourism.
• Loyalty towards U.S. products is waning as customers in the Caribbean begin to feel that they are not receiving adequate support from the U.S. industry. 
• Local beef production is declining in Jamaica and Barbados due to higher costs and loss from hurricanes.
• The quality of products supplied by the competition continues to improve due to better genetics, technology and distribution. 

• The majority of beef is sold at foodservice for tourists except on islands like Bermuda, Caymans and Bahamas, which also have strong retail sectors that merchandise U.S. beef.       
• Fresh U.S. beef is now being sold in supermarkets on the islands of Antigua, Trinidad, Barbados, Aruba and St. Maarten where the retail sector is beginning to flourish. 
• Growth in all-inclusive hotel chains adversely affects U.S. beef penetration since their food allocation costs are limited and they look for the cheapest product possible.

Product/Industry Image

• U.S. beef has a high quality image in the minds of all buyers in the marketing chain.
• Most tourists (about 80%) in the region come from the U.S. and not only have a preference for U.S. beef, but are comforted by its presence at the hotels and restaurants they visit. 
• Some chefs and distributors aren’t aware of the role of marbling and consider U.S. beef to be low-yielding.

Operating/Marketing Environment and Trade/Distribution Issues

• The lack of skilled butchers makes it difficult to introduce new cuts, such as the underutilized cuts, to both foodservice and retail.
• The lack of knowledge in cold chain management and basic handling hurts the quality of the product. 
• At times, there is a lack of allegiance to brands, origin and/or cut specifications when purchases are made through traders who are only interested in offering the best price to their customers.

Access Conditions

• Markets in the Caribbean are open to partially open (mostly LT 30 and/or no bone-in programs).
• Duties in Jamaica continue to be cost prohibitive at 86%.

Import and market share data is based on reported exports to the Bahamas and Jamaica (from GTA), and U.S. export data is from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Trade Census Bureau.

Long Term Strategy:

• Expand the range and volume of U.S. beef cuts sold by educating importers and their downstream customers about the value and profitability of featuring U.S. beef for its versatility, safety and taste. Demonstrate how to handle an expanded range of U.S. beef cuts to deliver a great eating experience every time and stay ahead of the competition.
• Increase the presence of fresh U.S. beef cuts on targeted islands at the retail level by training operators about how to profitably handle and merchandise fresh U.S. beef cuts, such as non-middle meats, and position them as high quality items to consumers.

USMEF Export Forecasts: