The US continues to take a growing share of Australian chilled grassfed exports heading to both the foodservice and retail channels.
Australian beef exports are shaping up to end 2017 in line with 2016 levels, with both chilled and frozen consistent with last year’s volumes.
There have been some changes in the destination of our exports for the year, with an uplift in volumes going to Japan and China helping to offset a drop off in volumes from Korea and Indonesia.
2018 is shaping up as a challenging year for Australian beef exports as production is anticipated to increase across both the US, Brazil and India.
Japan
Japan will finish 2017 as Australia’s biggest export market for beef, despite tough competition faced from the US throughout the year. The increase in volume to Japan has been driven by growth across both frozen grainfed and frozen grassfed beef, with the chilled segment remaining stable.
There have been a few key reasons behind this, one of which was frozen beef imports hitting safeguard volumes in July 2017, which saw tariffs on frozen beef from ‘non-EPA’ nations (e.g. US, NZ, Canada) ‘snapback’ to 50% until 1 April 2018.
This has given Australia a 22.8% advantage for frozen beef exports in this time, with Australian frozen beef exports only incurring a 27.2% tariff under the JAEPA.
Another factor has been successful in-market promotions, such as the continuation of MLA’s ‘Let’s Barbie’ campaign, which saw the use of pop up stores as the centerpiece of the campaign.
These provided a showcase for Aussie beef and included live cooking demonstrations, amongst other activities.
Strengthening of the True Aussie brand in Japan, which only launched in 2014, has also been ongoing. MLA research has shown that 40% of Japanese consumers recognise the logo.
Knowing the provenance of food is highly important to Japanese consumers and the True Aussie brand helps support the reputation of Australian beef’s quality and safety.
US
Beef exports to the US are on track to end the year in line with 2016 levels yet continue to be challenged by rising domestic US beef production. However, robust US domestic demand driven by an increased retail focus on beef (resulting in lower retail prices) has helped absorb much of this increased domestic production.
The US continues to take a growing share of Australian chilled grassfed exports heading to both the foodservice and retail channels.
US consumers perceive grassfed beef as better for animal welfare, the environment and more ‘natural’, which is helping grassfed beef to find its way onto more menus in the US.
There have also been some key market activations in the US, including a new partnership with Big Green Egg smokers and MLA’s Food Influencer program, which includes food bloggers, to ‘Make the Outdoors Greater’ this summer with True Aussie Beef and Lamb.
https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-news/how-have-key-beef-export-markets-tracked-in-2017/