Global Growth Committee Examines International Successes, Challenges for U.S. Beef

USMEF Chair-elect Leann Saunders addresses the Global Growth Committee on the return on investment delivered to producers through international marketing

The Beef Industry’s Global Growth Committee met in Denver this week as part of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. This joint program advisory committee was formed by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the Federation of State Beef Councils to develop strategies for checkoff-funded programs to promote U.S. beef in foreign markets.

On Thursday, the committee received an update on the intensely competitive landscape for global beef suppliers from Philip Seng, USMEF president and CEO. His presentation included examples of marketing strategies employed by the beef industries in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and Uruguay.

“Australia exports about 70 percent of its beef production, and several of our competitors export well over 50 percent,” Seng explained. “So their mentality is definitely ‘export first.’ They look at the export market as their primary market and the domestic market as the residual market. We should never underestimate how focused our competitors are on capturing our customers.”

Leann Saunders, USMEF chair-elect, followed with an explanation of how the portion of the beef checkoff that is designated for international marketing helps leverage critical support from other funding sources and contributions from third parties. This multiplies the impact of the U.S. beef industry’s global marketing efforts, helping to ensure that U.S. cattle producers receive a strong return on their checkoff investment.

Producers serving on the Global Growth Committee sample international dishes featuring U.S. beef following their meeting in Denver

USMEF Economist Erin Borror provided the committee with a global beef trade overview, noting that the value of beef exported worldwide has doubled since 2006, to more than $33 billion. The value of beef imported by Asian countries has increased at an even more rapid pace, doubling in the past five years to about $13 billion.

Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for marketing and communications, and Greg Hanes, assistant vice president for international marketing and programs, provided a report on current marketing activities and export results in individual markets, citing Mexico, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan as strong performers in 2014. The committee was also updated on efforts to regain access for U.S. beef in closed markets such as China and Russia, and to remove restrictions imposed by other trading partners. Committee members utilized this information to complete beef checkoff authorization request (AR) tactic scorecards, indicating the degree to which they feel each individual tactic supports the goals of the Beef Industry Long Range Plan.

The committee also received a presentation on efforts made by USMEF and CBB to educate producers about the importance of beef exports. This includes producer outreach through the agricultural and business media, as well as regular presentations at state beef council meetings, state and national agricultural conventions and industry trade shows.

The committee reconvened Friday to continue its discussion of the AR tactic scoring system and address any remaining questions about USMEF market development and market access activities. At the end of this meeting, committee members sampled U.S. beef dishes that are popular in international markets. These recipes featured beef cuts that are underutilized in the domestic market, including:

• Japanese sukiyaki, featuring U.S. chuck roll
• Peruvian anticucho, made with U.S. beef heart
• Baked U.S. heel meat with lemon and vegetables – a popular recipe in the Middle East

“The goal behind these international tastings is not only to highlight the dishes that are popular today, but also to get us thinking about how our Millennial Generation compares to those in other parts of the world,” said Larry Pratt, a cow-calf and stocker operator from Eliasville, Texas, who chairs the Global Growth Committee. “We need to focus on the products we’ll need to export to those younger people across the globe to satisfy their culinary needs.”