ONTARIO BEEF MARKET DEVELOPMENT By John Baker, Director of the Ontario Beef Market Development Program john@ontariobeef.com • www.ontariobeef.com
Ontario Beef Sees Strong Growth in Important Japanese Market I
n 2015, the Ontario Corn Fed Beef program began Ontario’s first marketing efforts to brand Ontario beef outside of our provincial borders. The primary market identified was Japan. Since that time, we have seen tremendous growth in the volume of Ontario beef exported to Japan, and more importantly the value received for branded Ontario beef in the Japanese market. Japanese consumers love the taste of beef. They have tremendous respect for on-farm processes and protocols that ensure consistency
and quality, and they demand the highest levels of food safety in the products they import from many nations around the world. Canada has a tremendous reputation with Japanese consumers; the image of Canada as a country of integrity and natural resources resonates very well with consumers. The province of Alberta, through their office in Japan, has always been an active supporter of Alberta beef in the market, allowing them to create a unique identity for regional beef production. This approach provided an opportunity to focus on how the province of Ontario could also provide the market with a unique value proposition for highquality beef produced in Ontario. Our value proposition is cattle raised on registered family farms under a documented quality assurance program, using a consistent nutritionally balanced corn-based feed ration and animal welfare standards to produce consistently highquality beef. Back in 2015, we began our marketing efforts with Kinsho stores, a 43-store retail chain based in Osaka, Japan. In January 2019, we were
very honoured to have two senior management leaders from Kinsho stores travel to Ontario to attend the Ontario Beef Industry Convention in London. Mr. Hirohi Ueda, Vice President of Kinsho stores, spoke about the relationship developed between Ontario Corn Fed Beef and Kinsho stores. They both spoke about how Ontario Corn Fed Beef has 12
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