South Korea

Late-Night Burger Runs: Why South Korea is a Country to Watch

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:06:27 GMT

It’s 10 p.m. You open the refrigerator to find you are out of milk and bacon. How can you have breakfast without that pair? Now imagine the fastest “Amazon fulfillment center” processing your order overnight and delivering a carton of milk and pound of bacon to your doorstop by 6 a.m. the next morning.

“That may seem unachievable in the U.S., but that’s happening in South Korea with fresh products, in addition to chilled and frozen pork and beef,” says Josh Maschhoff, Illinois Pork Producers Association president and sixth-generation pork farmer. Maschhoff was part of the 21-member delegation made up of U.S. corn, soybean, beef and pork farmers visiting South Korea with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) advocating about U.S. agriculture and trade.

(USMEF)

Maschhoff says it’s time to open our eyes as a country to the possibility of these conveniences.

Full of Opportunity
South Korea is comparable to the size of state of Indiana, Maschhoff describes. Just picture that size of a region with 43 million more people in it.

“It’s dense,” he says. “It’s a lot of high-rise buildings, urban populations, and not a lot of opportunity to travel. Convenience is really important in their lives.”

In addition to convenience, Andy Tauer, vice president of international market development at the National Pork Board, says flavor is just as important priority for the consumers in South Korea.

“Flavor profile is huge,” Tauer says. “Pork brings the flavor to the table already, but then they add a little bit of Korean spice to it once it gets here. There is a lot of opportunity for further development of some additional U.S. pork products here in this marketplace.”

The aging population of the South Korean consumer was eye opening to Maschhoff.

“We have to figure out how to adapt our product and work with the retailers and the brokers here to market to those specific demographics,” Maschhoff says. “A common trend in Korea is the uptick of home meal replacement, where they can get a prepackaged product that contains meat and vegetables and could even be seasoned or precooked.”

Home meal replacement is popular in South Korean grocery stores.

(USMEF)

He says that is one example of matching convenience and the need to create products that South Korean customers value.

Jay Theiler, executive vice president for corporate affairs at Agri-Beef and USMEF chair elect, says he appreciates the value USMEF brings in trying to figure out how to market beef in new ways that can bring more value to producers.

“One example is really thin slicing of products for things like shabu-shabu,” Theiler says. “The trip also opened my eyes to markets for cuts we don’t use in the states, like tendons in soup. It’s so diverse the way the products are consumed here. That’s where the whole puzzle works. When you could get the different pieces and parts going to the right markets and create more value for us as producers.”

Sparse Shelves
It’s not as easy as “ship it and they will buy,” but Maschhoff says the shelves were a little sparse when it came time to find U.S. pork in the stores.

“The good side about that is it’s sparse because two weeks ago, the shelves were stacked and it flew off the shelves,” he says. “The U.S. is challenged in the current market, with Canada and a few others being able to come in here with a little cheaper price, and they’re filling more of the case right now, but that’s a small hurdle.”

Another challenge is connecting South Korean customers with packers and distributors to get them the product that they need in the specifics that they’d like to see it.

Cattlemen’s Beef Board Chair Ryan Moorhouse (left) and Nebraska beef producer Keith Kreikemeier check out the beef selection in Costco in Seoul.

(USMEF)

“Belly is the No. 1 pork product they import, and if we think about how popular bacon is in our domestic market, we’re limited in our opportunity,” Tauer points out. “But to their credit, they’re making bacon out of Boston Butt and some picnic bacon. They’re finding opportunities to continue to utilize that that U.S. pork product to deliver what the consumers are demanding here in South Korea.”

Ryan Moorhouse, Cattlemen’s Beef Board chair, expects beef demand in Korea to continue to grow.

“If you look at the amount of American beef that Korea has taken, it’s kind of straight up for the last 10 years,” Moorhouse says. “They like our product. They like American products in general. It’s a very competitive market, but it’s also a market where they eat a ton of protein. I think they’ll continue to eat more and more protein with the population that they have.”

Culture Connection
In addition to better understanding market opportunities, Tauer says these trips help U.S. farmers better understand international customers. They are a great way to form valuable relationships that could open doors in Asian markets.

(l to r) Josh Maschhoff and Andy Tauer listen to a presentation at Highland Foods, one of the South Korea’s largest importers of U.S. beef and pork, during their trip to learn about opportunities for U.S. red meat.

(USMEF)

“Being able to bring our U.S. producers over here so they can meet processors, retailers and give that story firsthand is key,” Tauer says. “For example, Josh gave a presentation to about 100 or so buyers in Korea about the sustainability efforts that not only he and his family are doing on their farm, but across the entire pork spectrum. As we’ve traveled around South Korea, we’ve seen a lot of sustainable labeling and animal welfare labeling. Being able to put that personal connection to their priorities is really important and helps continue to build that confidence and preference for U.S. pork.”

Maschhoff’s first trip to Asia, he was impressed with the politeness of the Korean culture.

“They have really aligned with the U.S. and depend on us to supply them with products they can’t supply on their own,” he says. “It makes you feel grateful that you can do that for them, and it’s something we take great pride in, being able to provide food for other people.”

It also reminded him of the importance of farmers telling their story and thinking more deeply about what the consumer (domestic and international) wants to buy.

“Dollar for dollar, as a pork producer or a beef producer, our checkoff dollars are well spent when investing in promotion with USMEF because we get that match with USDA funding. It goes a long way with helping to bridge the cultural gap and trying to innovate and think about different ways we can put our product on an international plate in a way that makes those consumers really appreciate it,” Maschhoff says. “Rather than us trying to push product to them, it’s letting them pull it from us in a way that they’d like to see it.”

Tauer hopes producers see the value that the international component brings to the overall pork cutout.

U.S. pork sampling sponsored by USMEF at Costco in Seoul.

(USMEF)

“As we think about some of these markets and the different products they want and desire from the U.S., these aren’t products that our domestic consumers are going to eat on a daily basis, or ever, quite frankly,” Tauer says. “Don’t forget that $64 to $66 is what the international market adds to the overall pork (carcass) value.”

Future Food Fulfillment
Maschhoff is the first to admit he “geeked out” a little at the technology in that fulfillment center in South Korea – that’s his engineering background coming through. But he says it’s more than that.

“Tasting what pork can do is not just about the quality or the versatility, but it’s about us trying to figure out how to make that convenient,” he says. “The fulfillment center concepts just make me hungry for why we need to go try to execute that same sort of a model in the domestic market. I think there’s a wealth of opportunity that we have not tapped yet. It’s easy to say, ‘Ah well, American consumers wouldn’t see that as something.’ But I think we need to keep an open mind and learn from other countries.”

Listen to more about the trip on AgriTalk with Chip Flory.

President Trump Threatens New Round of Tariffs Over the Weekend: Here’s the Latest

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:39:36 GMT

U.S. commodity markets were down to start the week in Sunday night trade as the markets digested the latest tariff announcement by President Donald Trump. On Saturday, President Trump threatened to impose 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1. The announcement came after a string of new tariff threats last week, as the Trump administration’s deadline for trade deals came due.

On Monday, President Trump continued with tariff talk, saying he would implement “severe tariffs” on Russia unless a peace deal is reached with Ukraine within 50 days.

He provided few details on how they would be implemented but described them as 100% secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.

The latest tariff threats weren’t good news for farmers looking to price fertilizer for fall, as StoneX Group says Russia is the United States’ top destination for both urea and UAN imports. StoneX points out Russia’s market chair has “grown substantially in recent years.”

Monday’s news follows a week where many anticipated trade deals. Instead, President Trump made a series of announcements with new tariffs. The new tariffs on Mexico and the European Union, which Trump announced Saturday, capped off a week of sweeping tariff threats.

Earlier in the week, Trump warned of a possible:

50% tariff on all copper imports
50% tariff on all goods from Brazil
35% tariff on Canadian goods
25% tariff on goods from Japan
25% tariff on imports from South Korea
200% tariff on imported pharmaceuticals

The positive side of the announcements is the Trump administration says any products covered under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (UMCA) won’t face the new tariffs.

President Trump also sent letters to both Japan and South Korea last week, saying their goods will be taxed at 25% starting August 1st.

The President posted the two letters he sent to those countries’ leaders on his Truth Social site. In the letter to South Korea, he stated when it comes to Korea’s tariff and non-tariff polices and trade barriers, the relationship between the two countries has been far from reciprocal. He added the 25% tariff was far less than what he says is needed to eliminate a trade deficit disparity.

The letter to Japan added if Japanese companies decide to build or manufacture a product within the U.S., there will be no tariffs. Japanese and U.S. negotiators have been working for several weeks to try and reach a deal.

Lack of Progress Impacts Commodity Prices
The lack of trade announcements last week was just one factor that caused corn prices to tank, according to AgMarket.net’s Matt Bennett. While rain in the upper Corn Belt was also bearish for the markets, little to no movement on trade is also pressuring prices.

“We had no trade announcements, and then we continued to talk about tariffs. The unfortunate reality right now is it appears the administration is playing the long game, trying to get people to come to the table with better trade deals than what we currently have seen. But it certainly isn’t doing any favors for the corn market,” Bennett said on U.S. Farm Report this weekend. “I think something like a big trade agreement certainly could tilt the tide more in the favor of the corn market moving higher. Until you get that, with weather being as good as what it is, there’s nothing there.”

It’s not all bearish, though. Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says the 50% tariff on Brazil is actually bullish for beef.

“We already have a shortage of protein in America with the cattle herd being shrinking over recent years because of lingering drought in the western half of the country, and supplies are tight. We’re just getting to the point of trying to rebuild those supplies, which holding back heifers, tightens up the supply of meat even more. We’re feeding to record-high carcass weights to try to fill the void. We’re increasing imports to record levels. Brazil is the primary supplier of those imports: 27% of our imports come from Brazil in the first five months of the year, according to the latest data we have available, that’s 666 million pounds. That’s 4% of consumption,” Suderman says.

If you think 4% doesn’t sound like a big deal, Suderman says it is - especially considering meat demand in the U.S. has turned out to be inelastic.

“We’ve been shifting from a starch-based diet more heavily toward protein-based. And as the prices go up, we’re actually increasing demand for beef and the other proteins - but we don’t have the supply of it. I think that could be a real problem going forward for the meat industry and the meat supply. We will have to find somewhere else to get that meat,” Suderman says.

Are Trade Deals Close?

While President Trump initially stated he had reached trade agreements with 200 countries, only a few have been officially announced. These include deals with China, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam, however. Negotiations with other countries are ongoing, with the administration extending the deadline for tariff-related negotiations to August 1.

The European Union says it was working on sealing a trade deal with the U.S. by the end of this month, and the European Commission president says the EU was working closely with the Trump administration to reach a deal.

Japan, South Korea and China/Hong Kong Have Top Three Spots In Beef Export Market Share

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 18:43:47 GMT

The latest trade data for October continued recent trends in international beef trade. October beef exports were down just 0.3 percent year over year with the year-to-date total for the first ten months of the year down 2.6 percent (Figure 1). October beef imports were up 35.2 percent year over year in October with a January – October total up 22.5 percent over last year.

(Peel/USDA)

Japan has moved back into the top spot as the number one beef export market thus far in 2024, with a ten-month total unchanged from a year ago and a 21.8 percent share of total beef exports. Following closely is South Korea, in second place this year (down from number one last year), with a year-to-date total down 8.8 percent from last year and a 20.5 percent share of total beef exports. The combined China/Hong Kong market is number three, down 7.8 percent year over year thus far in 2024 and holding an 18.7 percent share of the beef export total. Mexico continues to show the strongest growth in major export markets with beef exports up 9.8 percent year over year thus far and an increasing 11.4 percent share. Number five Canada is down 7.2 percent in 2024 with an 8.5 percent share of beef exports. Taiwan is the number six beef export market with a year-to-date total down 2.6 percent and a 6.4 percent beef export share.

Australia has regained the top spot as a source of U.S. beef imports, with a ten-month total up a whopping 69.4 percent and a 22.7 percent share of the import total. Australia has not been the top beef import source for the U.S. since 2016. Canada has dropped to second place with a total thus far in 2024 up 1.3 percent and a 21.8 percent share. Brazil is the number three source of beef imports, up 52.0 percent thus far in the year and a 15.6 percent share of the import total. New Zealand is the fourth largest source of beef imports with a total through October up 6.3 percent year over year and a 13.0 percent share of total imports. Mexico is the fifth largest source of beef imports and is down 11.7 percent year over year with a 12.9 percent share of Beef imports. Uruguay is the number six beef import source, up 65.4 percent year over year and a 6.3 percent share of the total.

Canada and Mexico are both strong bilateral beef trade partners but are moving in opposite directions. Beef imports from Canada continue to grow and exports decline year over year while Mexico has decreased as an import source with beef exports to Mexico increasing this year and in 2023 from a recent low in 2022.

The sharp jump in total beef imports this year is in response to a 12.8 percent year over year decrease in nonfed beef production resulting from a 15.9 percent year over year decrease in cow slaughter through late November. Much of beef imports supply lean processing beef for hamburger and other processed beef products.

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Extreme Growth Potential with Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for U.S. Red Meat Exports

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 19:43:20 GMT

Trade talks with key trading partners on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are gearing up, and U.S. Meat Export Federation’s assistant vice president of export services Travis Arp has more details on how this might impact U.S. red meat exports.

“Looking at issues like science-based trade, good regulatory practices and transparency with regulations and things that can really open more opportunities for U.S. exporters in a multiple group of sectors,” Arp says will be on the agenda.

Submitting comments on the ‘resilient trade pillar’ of the framework, USMEF explains the economic impacts of the region’s trades.

“In 2021, Japan and South Korea were the largest volume and value markets for U.S. beef, importing a total of 320,737 and 280,143 metric tons (MT) of U.S. beef, respectively; valued at $2.376 billion and $2.382 billion, respectively,” the comments explained. “2021 U.S. pork exports to Japan and Korea were valued at $1.693 billion and $556 million, respectively, making Japan and Korea the second and fifth largest value markets for U.S. pork.”

USMEF’s comments explained that the value of U.S. beef exports to the region increased by 22% from 2020 to 2021, with a 65% in Indonesia alone. Meanwhile, U.S. pork export values increased by 26%, with a 78% increase in the Philippines alone. These statistics show extreme growth when considering the U.S. market share in these areas are relatively low.

As the economic framework is still under construction, Arp believes the goal is to strengthen trade relations with allies in Asia, seeing the region as an opportunity to improve market access and open these markets to U.S. exporters.

“There’s an opportunity to address some of these systemic barriers to trade,” Arp says. “Gaining more beef access into markets, like Korea, and creating more opportunities for plants to get approved in markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, then this could potentially pose a significant boost to red meat exports in the future.”

Other framework details include promoting science-based trade rules, establishing regionalization agreements in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak, such as African swine fever , and tariffs, quotas and import licenses.

Read USMEF’s full comment detail here .