Ron Hays talks with Heather Buckmaster of the Oklahoma Beef Council about the U.S. Meat Export Federation Conference she is participating in this week in West Africa.
She referenced a previous conversation with Hays in which she detailed the demographics of Sub-Saharan Africa. Its 1.2 billion consumer base is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. In comparison, the U.S. population is 340 million.
“The event this week has been amazing,” she said. “There have been fifty companies here from twelve countries learning about U.S. beef and making connections with each other. We have traders, retailers, and food service here. They are looking towards solutions which U.S. beef can be a part of and also be a part of the market.”
Buckmaster was happy for the opportunity to walk the group through the U.S. beef production chain, detailing the process of getting beef from the pasture to the plate. She shared, “I visited with them about animal care and beef safety, and highlighted the U.S. beef quality grade is what makes U.S. beef special, and our sustainability.”
She highlighted that doing business in Africa is about building relationships with a strong focus on families and communities, which is very relatable to communities in the United States.
Buckmaster has visited Africa many times over the years, and she said that she is most surprised by the rapid modernization happening there. She described a presentation by an e-commerce company that is integrating telephone ads and digital marketing into the grocery and retail space.
She detailed the diverse demands of the county by detailing a conversation with one man whose most requested items were beef feet and voice boxes and another with customers who desire U.S. Prime Beef. Buckmaster learned that voice boxes are the gullet in the throat of a bovine- US consumers use them for pet treats- but they used as a human food item in other parts of the world.
“I’ve seen a lot of excitement for the opportunity and connections being made between companies, traders, and retail food service,” Buckmaster said. “I have a lot of respect for the traders because they are taking on the risk of shipping, but this is an emerging market, and there are challenges, but I think USMEF does a really great job of helping provide solutions for these companies and helping to overcome many of the challenges that they have.”
According to Buckmaster, USMEF’s strong point is bringing companies together and helping them find solutions. “USMEF does an outstanding job,” she said. “They are growing the number of countries that they are penetrating in, and they do a wonderful job of building the relationships from country to country.”
She said that the way for U.S. beef producers to look at Africa is that rather than getting a bigger piece of the pie, it is about making the pie bigger in the long term.
