KAMLOOPS, B.C. (Staff) – Canadian cattle producers need to beef up promotion campaigns if they expect to make inroads with Japanese buyers.
Yasuo Ono, Tokyo director of the Canada Beef Export Federation, says the Australians and Americans devote large budgets to overseas beef promotion. If Canada wants to be a player in that market, it better bump up its own budget substantially, he said.
With tariff walls coming down, Canada is aiming for 10 percent of the Japanese beef trade, worth $300 million a year. The beef export federation anticipates Canadians will sell 10,000 tonnes in 1994.
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In 1993, Japan imported more than half a million tonnes of beef from the United States and Australia.
Ono said by the year 2000, Japan will import one million tonnes per year.
To increase sales, some improvements are necessary at the Canadian end, said Ono. Quality is a matter of perception and frequently Canadian beef is seen as not tender enough, he said.
Longer shelf life needed
Also, the Japanese prefer fresh over frozen beef. Canada must increase beef shelf life to 60 days so imports can stand the three-week shipping time, as well as shelf time in Japanese stores.
Ono expects Japanese beef consumption to rise due to falling prices. The price of beef is roughly comparable with pork at $12 per kg, since tariffs on imported products dropped sharply in the last year.
In 1990-91 rounds sold for $25 per kg while domestic pork was $14 a kg.
