A team of 21 producers representing the pork, beef, corn, and soybean industries recently traveled to South Korea to observe the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) investments in this key market. South Korea is currently the leading market for U.S. beef exports and the third-largest market for U.S. pork muscle cuts.
Demand for U.S. Protein is on the Rise
Producers on the tour noted a significant shift in the Korean diet, moving away from starchy staples like rice and toward a greater consumption of protein. According to Cattlemen’s Beef Board Chair Ryan Moorhouse, beef exports to Korea are “kind of straight up” over the past decade and he expects this demand to continue growing as the country’s population consumes more and more protein. He further stated, “I think the growth is there. They like our product, they like American products in general”.
Eloy pork producer Josh Maschhoff also observed this dietary shift firsthand, noting the abundance of restaurants advertising meat. He stated that Koreans are “choosing to eat less of a starchy staple and more protein”. Maschhoff believes the average Korean consumer is currently eating more protein than the average U.S. domestic consumer, who eats about 60 pounds annually.
Building Relationships and Meeting Consumer Tastes
Meeting directly with U.S. producers was a priority for Korean importers like Eddie Park of Highland Foods, a major importer of U.S. beef and pork. For Highland Foods, the U.S. is a “very important country” from which they wish to import all proteins. Park emphasized the importance of meeting U.S. producers to “source more effectively” by going “all the way to the farms” to better understand the products. He added that the U.S. origin is very important to them because “the flavor, the taste is very fond to the Koreans”.
Park hopes to expand Highland Foods’ “business and portfolio from the U.S.”.
The Value of the Korean Market
Ryan Moorhouse highlighted the significant financial value of the Korean market, noting that “beef exports in particular are worth $411.00 per head on the finished carcass basis”. He also stated that “the U.S. beef chilled products, they’re moving through stores at a tremendous rate”. According to Moorhouse, when they visited stores like E-Mart and Costco, the U.S. beef was “basically flying off the shelf”.
The USMEF tour underscored the strong and growing relationship between U.S. producers and Korean consumers, with both sides benefiting from the increasing demand for high-quality American meat products.
For more information, visit the U.S. Meat Export Federation at usmef.org.
