Emerging Post-Pandemic, Consumers in Japan Remain Cautious
Though the COVID-19 pandemic seems so long ago, Japan, one of the largest export markets for U.S. pork and beef, is just starting to emerge from COVID restrictions, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) reports.
Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO, describes the country and how it is emerging post-pandemic.
“On my way in, [Japan] was the most empty I've seen it ever. I think it'll take a little bit of time for the consumer in Japan to get used to the post-COVID environment,” he says. “It's going to take a little bit of time for [consumers] to adjust and get used to that.”
Food service also seems to be rebounding at a slow pace.
“I was a bit surprised that food service hadn't recovered any more than it had. People are fully masked inside and outside. The family style dining sector, especially the yakiniku sector, is seeing some rebound. But that isn't true for the whole food service sector,” he adds.
Halstrom also believes there will be a lot of upside later in the year for food service, while retail and online e-commerce activity continues to boom.
While U.S. beef remains strong in the Japanese food service sector, Halstrom says Japanese buyers expressed a growing interest in retail pork.
“From the standpoint that certain cuts are maybe a little cheaper than beef, and also the fact that poultry [chicken] prices are so high in Japan, I think pork is well-positioned in that regard. There was a bit of optimism at retail in particular around pork, so that was encouraging,” he notes.
