October 5, 2006

Australian launches new campaign to start off the "beef war"

It looks like if the US beef industry wants to regain its leading position in the Japanese market, it would have to pry it from Australia's cold, dead hands.

Worried about being left behind in the competition for the "beef dollar" in Japan after the US launched a media blitz to promote US beef there, Australia's MLA has begun a more massive drive targeting 4,000 Japanese supermarkets to consolidate its position in the country's market.

In fact, Qantas, Australia's airline company and Wolf Blass, an Australian wine company, are also joining the fray to help their beef cousin.

MLA's managing director David Palmer makes no qualms that the drive is meant to fight off competition from the US.

The drive is an initiative to retain customer loyalty and hang on to sales in the Japanese retail market, he said.

MLA's strategy would involve a constant bombardment of messages underscoring the safety, consistency and reliability of Australian beef to capitalise on Japanese concerns about the safety of US beef.

Efforts from the Australian beef industry to defend their market looks set to intensify particularly as the Americans now begin to mount more vigorous campaigns to regain lost territory.