April 2, 2007

US beef expands in Taiwan
 

The US Meat Export Federation reports the Taiwan beef market continues to increase a year it reopened its market for US beef.

USMEF said more and more Taiwanese restaurants and supermarkets are demanding US beef products.

After US beef made its return to Taiwan a little over a year ago, USMEF has been holding seminars and conducting other activities to assure consumers there that US beef is safe.

USMEF Taiwan Director, Davis Wu, in a news release, said there are no close substitutes or competitors to US boneless short ribs since its Australian competitors are headed towards Korea and Japan, adding grass-fed short ribs are too tough for cooking.

Wu said many chain supermarkets and wholesale stores have featured US beef as main promotion product for the Chinese New Year, adding this indicates that Taiwanese are no longer concerned about US beef safety.

Wu also notes in 2006 chilled US beef garnered a 48 percent of retail market share in Taiwan, indicating optimism for future progress of US beef in the retail sector. Taiwan was the fourth largest market for US beef and beef variety meat in 2006. The United States exported 21,409 metric tonnes valued at US$101.3 million.