Highlights from the ‘U.S. Beef Roadshow’ in China

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) just completed its “U.S. Beef Roadshow” in China, a series of marketing events conducted in China’s three largest cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These activities were organized by USMEF in cooperation with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and utilized

Each of the three events attracted more than 300 Chinese importers who were selected and screened by USMEF. The exporter turnout was also strong, as 20 USMEF member companies took part in the roadshow. The attached audio report includes observations from:

Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia Pacific
Peter Cho, purchasing manager for Shanghai-based importer Topping Cuisine International
Evan Wang, general manager in the region for Utah-based exporter PMI Foods (Parker-Migliorini International)

More details and high-resolution photos from the roadshow are available in this USMEF news release.

TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: The U.S. Meat Export Federation has just completed its U.S. Beef Roadshow in China, highlighting U.S. beef in the country’s three largest cities. Senior VP Joel Haggard has more details in this USMEF report.

Joel Haggard: We thought very early on when we knew beef access was coming that it would be very beneficial to our industry and to our exporter members to come and experience the market. In addition to that, it’s obvious that we are able to attract a large number of buyers at each of the three stops we make — one in north China, one in central China and one in south China — so the road show is really an exhibition of beef exporters, and it’s to a closed audience of screened importer candidates and end user customers. We believe this format is the ideal one to promote U.S. beef exports here and further the momentum that’s already been in the marketplace.

Joe Schuele: Peter Cho of Topping Cuisine International is a major beef importer in China.

Peter Cho: We see the market has started moving so we have some major accounts like the most famous steakhouse in Shanghai, Mortons, and Park Hyatt. They are committed to put U.S. steaks on the menus already. Of course, we understand that there might be some learning curve from the stateside, from our side, how to match the requirements here. But we feel confident as time moving and the market will accept more and more U.S. beef.

Joe Schuele: Evan Wang represents U.S.-based exporter PMI Foods in the region:

Evan Wang: One of the questions we have been hearing from the customers in China is, where can they get U.S. beef and where they can get consistent supply? So that’s why we’re here, to explain how much volume, the process and the grading system of the quality of U.S. beef. I think it’s very successful and we got a lot of inquiries.

Joe Schuele: For more information, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.