The final numbers illustrating 2016’s beef export performance are in and they look really good. Phil Seng is president of the US Meat Export Federation. He said recently the reason driving these figures is a growing global dynamic in the way the world consumes protein. He says the industry is watching a push around the world, particularly in Asia, for more a beefy diet.
“It looks like this year we’re going to finish exports over 10 percent as far as our export performance,” Seng reported. “That’s a significant growth compared to where we’ve been.”
Part of that he says, are the many inroads that have been made with developing markets such as Korea, where exports into that country have grown to 38 percent, replacing Australia with the US as the Asian nation’s top beef supplier. In Japan, too, Seng reports that American beef exports are up dramatically. The same goes for Taiwan, Mexico and Canada. Strange to think since many of these markets were considered developed and mature.
“Just because a market is developed doesn’t mean it doesn’t continue developing,” retorts Seng. “We’re seeing all kinds of dynamics in Japan and I think that the changing nature of food consumption, especially meat consumption is allowing for more of it to come in.”