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 Canada Beef steak preparation label With BBQ season underway, retailers are promoting Canadian beef for the grill. CBII Japan has recently renewed and produced Canadian beef preparation labels for grilling steaks to meet increased demand. The labels were produced in Japanese and provide instructions on how to cook a Canadian beef steak. Other POS materials (table skirts, shelf talkers and laminated posters) were included to support the enhancement and development of key Canadian beef brand messages and resources for consumer marketing initiatives. Media coverage in two Japanese magazines Canada Beef International Institute (CBII) Japan worked with two leading industry magazines to introduce CBII programs and services available in Japan. The two magazines are: Japan Daily Meat Livestock & Food Industry News July 2020 edition. This is a leading meat industry newspaper and food magazine reaching 18,200 subscribers of importers/distributors, retail/foodservice companies and hotel chefs. Japan Meat Journal July 2020 edition. This is a meat-industry-focused magazine reaching 12,000 subscribers of meat importers and distributors, meat processing companies, meat stores, and department stores. Three marketing activities in the 2019/2020 fiscal year were featured in the articles:
 Canada Beef webinar for beef ambassadors CBII Japan appointed several well-known cooking experts as Canadian beef “ambassadors”. These ambassadors develop and post a recipe on their popular social media accounts every week to publicize the Canadian Beef Advantage (CBA) to their followers and to raise awareness of Canadian beef fairs to be held at CBII customer venues (supermarkets, hotel and restaurants and online platforms) across Japan.  CBII Japan produced a CBA webinar on July 17 to educate ambassadors so they can provide a Canada Beef cooking seminar at the fairs or provide a webinar to CBII customers to support a sales increase of Canadian beef. Canada Beef fair at Satoh Co. (July 23 – 26, 2020) CBII Japan’s strategic partner, Satoh Co is holding a Canada Beef fair to promote Canadian beef strip loin, outside skirt, and other value-added products for the summer BBQ season. Satoh’s special flyer delivers information on the quality and advantages of Canadian beef production. Satoh Co., a major food distribution company in the Tohoku region with +900 employees and sales over CND650 million. Sendai is the capital of Tohoku with a population of 9 million people providing a large market potential for Canadian beef.  Expanding Canada Beef sales promotion at retail Canada Beef sales promotion has resumed in many retailers across Japan. Canada Beef POS materials (labels, stickers, and recipe books) were distributed to supermarkets nationally to support the sales increase. The JSA (Japan Supermarket Association) announced that retail sales of meat products rose 17.3 % in May compared to the same time period in 2019. Sales of Canadian beef continues to increase as many consumers prefer cooking at home to dining out these days. These three supermarket chains have greatly expanded a meat case to promote Canadian beef products:
  Japan COVID-19 update Japan’s economy is opening cautiously, with social-distancing restrictions remaining amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ships carrying the June production of Canadian beef are arriving at ports in Japan with a very small volume of Canadian beef chucks and plates due to a significant price hike. Some distributors have shifted to Australian grain-fed beef as a replacement for North American products but will soon go back to the products they previously sold. Canadian beef imports are expected to increase or stay the same in the medium and long term. Canadian beef exports to Japan reached 15,000 tonnes as of the end of April, up 10 % compared to the same period in 2019. For May, beef imports to Japan are estimated to have decreased by 2.1% on a year-on-year basis. Consumer traffic is back to normal since the low-season (rainy season) has come, resulting in a decreasing demand for meat products at the retail level. There is no shortage of Canadian beef at this moment; all shelves in the meat department are full. Restaurants resumed business in late May but customer numbers have topped out at about 50% of pre-pandemic levels. South Korea COVID-19 Update The safety of the beef supply is an important message for both local and imported beef as shoppers return to stores with COVID-19 regulations in place. However, because sporadic COVID-19 cluster infections are happening, customers are reluctant to visit retail shops to purchase beef, preferring to make on-line purchases and to eat meals at home. There is an expected economic downturn in the second half of the year, so local Canadian beef suppliers are expressing concern that consumers will be reluctant to spend more money on purchasing Canadian beef in June and July. Therefore, although summer BBQ season is here, sales of Canadian beef are expected to be slow. Consumers are taking full advantage of e-commerce platforms and mobile ordering to purchase home meal replacement and ready-to-cook meals products containing Canadian beef. E-commerce platforms are launching a variety of marketing and promotional events to sustain the attention of consumers. Back to main page  Japan Team Yuko Onizawa, Ichiro Kiyotomi, Takako Toyama |
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