In a year of economic failure in Asia and tough competition from other beef-exporting nations, Canada has managed to retain most of its markets in the Pacific Rim, where beef demand is slowly growing.
The Canada Beef Export Federation has set lofty sales goals for the Asian market and over the years exporters have managed to break into areas where people don’t have a strong taste for beef.
When CBEF was established in 1989, its mandate was to increase sales and develop markets outside of Canada and the United States with special emphasis on Asia. Hopes were high to capture 10 percent of their imported beef market.
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“Everyone was optimistic. The optimism was not misplaced in spite of world economic problems. We at least improved our share,” said chair Jim Graham in an interview during the recent CBEF annual meeting in Calgary.
Results for the last year have been variable. The first half of 1998 was soft but some markets appear to be regaining strength.
Agriculture Canada figures show Canada shipped 14.7 million kilograms of beef and veal worth $52 million to Asia and Mexico for the first half of 1998. The goal is to sell 75 million kg per year by the end of this century.
Sales to Japan increased from 8,880 tonnes in the first six months of 1997 to 9,680 for the same period in 1998. Sales to economically beleaguered South Korea dropped to 468 tonnes from 2,900 for the same time frame. Mexico bought 2,988 tonnes this year compared to 2,403 tonnes last year.
Japan has more than doubled its imports of meat and seafood from 1990 to 1997. Fish and other seafood dominate, but there is a steady increase in beef that is expected to continue despite the downturn in the economy, said Yasu Ono, CBEF’s director in the Japanese office.
Japanese meat imports this year will be around 6.5 million tonnes with seafood comprising about 4.2 million tonnes. Beef, pork and poultry make up the remainder.
Canada remains the smallest supplier to this market at 15,000 tonnes. The United States and Australia will both ship more than 300,000 tonnes and New Zealand will provide 25,400 tonnes.
The market is not a cakewalk.
Many Japanese believe imported beef is not as clean as domestic product. Also, as their currency drops, they eat less often at restaurants where much of the high quality import product is used.
But Japan’s domestic production is expected to fall because of pollution problems, a shrinking land base and fewer farmers, said Ono.
Economic upheaval in South Korea is slowing, but conservative consumers are holding on to their money. Spending on luxury items like beef has fallen sharply.
Offices in Hong Kong report great potential because it is the gateway to China. However, it is difficult to get accurate per capita consumption figures because meat imports to Hong Kong are often smuggled to China.
