This Week: What Has The Beef Checkoff Program's FOREIGN MARKETING Program Area Done For Me Lately?FOREIGN MARKETING, as defined in the Beef Promotion & Research Act, means promotion, research, consumer information and industry information conducted in foreign markets. This includes checkoff-funded market development and promotional programs worldwide. Muscle Cuts In Egypt — The checkoff funded placement of a series of U.S. beef advertisements in leading Arabic language family and cooking magazines, Al Hadeel, Azhar Al Fan, Oyoun Lebnan, and Avenue, which boast a combined circulation of nearly 600,000 Arab readers, most of them homemakers. The ads lauded U.S. beef as part of a healthy lifestyle. Egypt has always been a leading market for U.S. beef livers, but muscle cuts now account for 56 percent of the total export value of U.S. beef exports to the Middle East. For more, visit U.S. beef in Egypt.
Sampling U.S. Beef — Thanks in part to checkoff funding, an enthusiastic group of some 80 beef distributors and purveyors from Poland, Portugal, Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy and France met in Monte Carlo to sample U.S. beef and learn how it can add tremendous versatility and variety to a restaurant menu. By increasing demand for underutilized U.S. beef cuts in Europe, the checkoff is helping the U.S. beef industry maximize opportunities from its limited supply of non-hormone-treated cattle. For more on the topic, go to U.S. beef in Europe.
U.S. Beef Safety — Beef Checkoff funding allowed a group of Japanese journalists to get an inside look at the U.S. beef industry and to meet Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University professor of animal science and industry pioneer in animal welfare. Journalists from the Sankei Shimbun (one of Japan’s five national newspapers, with a daily circulation of 2.8 million), Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (business and technology daily news with a circulation of 420,000), the Meat Journal and the Daily Meat & Livestock Food Industry Newspaper took part in the educational initiative to inform key Japanese opinion leaders about the safety of U.S. beef. For the full story, go to U.S. beef in Japan.
Reaching Taiwanese Chefs — The beef checkoff and the USDA’s Market Access Program funded a recent workshop in partnership with Taiwan Junior Chefs Association (TJCA). Through this, 70 young chefs were introduced to chilled U.S. value cuts, including chuck roll, chuck short ribs and bone-in short ribs. The commissioner of Taiwan's cabinet-level Consumer Protection Commission attended and told chefs he was pleased that the U.S. was clearing up misinformation in Taiwan's media last year regarding BSE cases in the United States. For details, visit U.S. beef in Taiwan. |