New Ways to Prepare and Serve U.S. Beef Liver in Colombia

Sharing innovative ways to serve U.S. beef liver with a major retailer and clients of a red meat importer, USMEF conducted cooking demonstrations, tastings and educational sessions in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Funded by the Beef Checkoff Program, the March activity was led by USMEF Chef Nicolas Diaz and featured a nutritionist who provided information about beef liver as an important source of iron and zinc.

Barranquilla-based W & L Worldwide Trading doubled its imports of U.S. beef liver to 117 metric tons (mt) in 2019. Olimpica, a retail chain with more than 350 stores in Colombia, imported nearly 950 metric tons of U.S. beef liver in 2019. USMEF has been working with both companies to boost U.S. beef liver sales.

“In general, the north coast of Colombia has greater consumption of beef liver compared to the rest of the country, butit is mostly limited to traditional ‘liver and onions’ dishes,” said Don Mason, USMEF representative in Colombia. “Our goal was to show that beef liver can be prepared many different ways and encourage importers and retailers to share this information with their customers.”

Diaz prepared three dishes: Colombian arepas with beef liver, liver sandwiches with Colombian chili and liver meatballs. Participants sampled the dishes and asked questions about U.S. beef liver and its availability.

USMEF Chef Nicolas Diaz prepares U.S. beef liver during a cooking demonstration in Barranquilla, Colombia