Matti Carlile, business coordinator for the Oklahoma Pork Board, had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo with the USMEF trade mission, with 21 delegates representing pork, beef, soybeans, and corn.
Farm director KC Sheperd visited with Carlile while in Japan and discussed all the things the USMEF Heartland Team has been experiencing: “We’ve covered a little bit of everything. It’s been a really awesome experience. We’ve had some meetings and some retail visits, kind of just working on those relationships that we’ve built with Japan, and it’s been incredible.”
While in Tokyo, Carlile has had the opportunity to visit local retail and food service outlets and gain valuable insights from USMEF Japan staff and the U.S. Embassy in Japan. Carlile said representing Oklahoma Pork has been a great experience, “I’ll tell you about one of those. We had brunch at a restaurant, and they served Tonkatsu, which is pork loin deep fried in some breadcrumbs. They told us that U.S. pork was being used, all U.S. pork, but one of their main companies was Seaboard. And you know how big Seaboard is in Oklahoma, so it was a really proud moment.”
One of the most significant differences between US and Tokyo consumers is their trips to the grocery store, “There’s a large variety of Pork and a big selection of all kinds of meats. They care about freshness over here, so looking at the pork, it’s really red and has a nice color, and they told us that was because of the freshness. People go to the grocery stores two or three times a week, where we only go to the grocery store about once a week.”
Carlile’s trip concluded with a seminar attended by over 400 people, showcasing the strong relationship between the US and Japan, particularly in pork consumption, “We’ve made a lot of connections. It was awesome to see what USMEF is doing, how big of a relationship the U.S. and Japan have, and how great that relationship is. And pork is in demand, and that’s just so cool to see that they actually told us that pork is the most consumed red meat here. Also, another pork proud moment.”
