Agricultural News
Growing Global Middle Class, Opportunity for US Beef Producers
Tue, 25 Nov 2014 14:20:02 CST
When you start looking at population numbers its easy to see the opportunities globally for US Beef. In the US there are 300 million people and globally there are seven billion people now on this earth. Now many of those seven billion are not affluent enough to be able to afford meat, red met or beef specifically but there are more and more of the world's population that is moving up in terms of income and affluence. According to US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Assistant Vice President International Marketing & Programs Greg Hanes said its that rising affluent tide of people that gives American cattlemen the opportunity to sell beef outside the borders.
"If you look at it you've got 96 percent of the population outside the US, you are going to have 80 percent of the global purchasing power out there," Hanes said. "The US population if you look over the next 15 - 20 years really isn't going to be growing that much, where as if you look at the global population its just booming."
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays featured Hanes on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to today's Beef Buzz.
Globally the middle class population is taking off. Hanes said that means consumers have the incomes now to purchase more meat, where as in the past they may not have. As economies develop, consumers move up the protein scale
"Beef is really that premiere protein, so you are seeing more and more demand for beef globally, but most of these consuming countries they don't have the resources to grow their own beef," Hanes said.
As that demand grows these countries will have to import beef. Hanes said USMEF wants to make sure these countries are buying from the US and not our competitors. There is a lot competition globally as a lot of countries are selling beef on the worldwide market.
"We're not the only ones that know that is this is where you get your margins," Hanes said. "This is where the demand is going to be, so they are very aggressive out there. You look at Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, even Europe is very aggressive in the various markets, so kind of depending on which market you will see a different mix of competitors out there and then not to mention you usually do have some domestic industry in most of these markets too."
So even countries like Japan or Korea have their own beef like Wagyu and they are very aggressive to maintain their share of the market
Australia is a major competitor and they are very aggressive in promoting the fact that they have not had a case of BSE. Hanes said they don't directly criticize the US or other country that has had BSE, but their whole campaign is about the fact they haven't had BSE and that their product is clean and safe.
Other countries like Canada and New Zealand are highlighting their greenness and open space. For many consumers in Asia that live in areas that are densely populated and they live in apartments. Hanes said in Oklahoma you can see the nature and openness, but for many international consumers their perception of America is what they see on TV of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
"They just have no concept of really how spacious the United States is," Hanes said. "So that's kind of part of the message we need to get across. We've got this nature. This isn't factory farming. This is prairie, you know a field out in Oklahoma or where ever where a family is raising this product for your family. That is kind of a key issue we try to address."
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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