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 Canada Beef Webinars—high impact marketing for the new normal COVID-19 has changed the way we communicate with Canada Beef’s in-market partners and webinars have become an important tool. Quickly responding to the new normal, Canada Beef partnered with a leading meat company in Japan to provide the first Canada Beef Webinar in June 2020. More than twenty of their sales managers and sales office representatives from across Japan attended the two-hour seminar. Ichiro Kiyotomi, Senior Director, Canada Beef International Institute (CBII), Japan delivered the presentation which included:
 The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted supply chains around the world including those for beef and pork. The Canadian meat industry implemented a broad range of safeguards that have enabled the industry to re-establish production to essentially normal levels. In September 2020, CBII participated in a webinar in collaboration with Canada Pork to discuss these safeguards and the current measures along with the programs and services available to support trade in Canadian meat products with in-market partners. Over 200 in-market partners registered for the hour-long webinar including the Q&A session; there was much positive feedback from the audience regarding this joint initiative of Canada Beef and Canada Pork. We were pleased to see that distribution partners registered as ‘one’ account and allowed other colleagues to join the webinar by using a video monitor in their conference room, resulting in more participants than the registration account number. The virtual event opened with comments by Tracy Reynolds, Minister (Commercial) from the Embassy of Canada in Japan. Following were presentations by Trevor Sears, President and CEO of Canada Pork, Michael Young, President of Canada Beef and Dr. Xianqin Yang, Microbiologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Dr. Yang provided an overview of key information on the virus followed by a presentation on the current measures taken by the Canadian meat industry to protect against COVID-19. Canada Pork and Canada Beef each presented an overview of marketing and promotion programs and the value proposition that our products bring to the marketplace.  It was the first webinar hosted by the meat industry board and Japanese media prominently featured articles about the webinar.  This has important implications for marketers trying to build lasting relationships with our partners. Webinars enable us to access potential customers across Japan, resulting in new sales channel development. Some regional retailers showed interested in Canada Beef after the webinar and are now selling Canadian beef. Webinars became an important marketing tool for Canada Beef Japan and will be scheduled in the next fiscal year. Restrictions applied in Japan due to the COVID-19 crisis have encouraged consumers to purchase more red meat, according to the Japanese National Bureau of Statistics of Japan. Shoppers bought 12% more red beef in 2020, compared to the previous year. Japan Covid-19 Update The Japanese government lifted the seven-week state of emergency for the Tokyo area on March 22. The measure helped to reduce infections in the area by more than 80% since it was implemented in January. Vaccinations are scheduled to start on April 12 for people aged 65 or older and later for people with underlying conditions. The JSA (Japan Supermarket Association) announced that sales of meat products in February were up slightly, 1.1 %, from a year earlier, resulting in thirteen consecutive months’ growth but the growth rate became lower than the previous months. For Canadian beef, three offal items (Outside Skirt, Hanging Tender, and Tongue), which are destined for BBQ packs, are gaining shelves at retail to meet the seasonal demand. Beef prices are steady in the last month and no beef items have been identified in short supply. On March 17, Japan Customs announced that Japan’s imports of U.S. beef surpassed the annual trigger safeguard volume established under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement. As a result, tariffs on U.S. beef increased from 25.8% to 38.5% for a period of 30 days beginning March 18. Japan’s total beef import volumes in January were down 10% YOY and imports from Canada decreased by 14% to 3,200 tonnes. Australian beef regained market share in Japan, climbing to 43%, which makes them the largest beef exporter in this market. South Korea Covid-19 Update On February 28, the South Korean government began the public vaccination program, starting with medical workers, health care workers and nursing home patients. As of mid-March, around 580,000 people have been given their first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, around 1.1% of the total population. Since mid-February, the government has been maintaining Level 2 social distancing measures, the third-highest in a five-tier system, for the greater Seoul area and Level 1.5 for other regions. Korea’s daily COVID-19 case has been fluctuating between 346 and 490 in mid-March. The government is still maintaining the ban on private gatherings of more than four people. As the spread of COVID-19 has somewhat slowed compared to February and as the vaccination has begun, the number of people visiting department stores and hypermart stores has been increasing since early March. The number of people visiting restaurants has also been gradually increasing, showing signs of recovery. However, as BBQ restaurants rely heavily on group customers in the evening, the ban on gatherings of more than four people still has a big impact. Schools started a new school year as of March 2 however many students are taking online classes and school catering companies and restaurants around schools are still suffering greatly. In Korea, it is generally encouraged to use locally produced meat at schools. And it is compulsory to use only locally grown beef in the military with around 600,000 soldiers. According to Korea’s quarantine statistics in 2021 (January 1 – February 28), Korea’s total frozen beef imports were 43,050mt, down 9.5% from 2020 (Jan-Feb). Imports from Canada were 1,851mt, up 118% YOY. Korea’s total chilled beef imports were 18,350mt, up 19% from 2020 (Jan-Feb). Imports from Canada were 57.5mt, down 26% YOY. Back to main page  Japan Team Yuko Onizawa, Ichiro Kiyotomi, Takako Toyama |
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