As sales recover slowly from the pandemic in Japan’s foodservice sector, buyers are seeking new ideas to cap rising input costs. A key strategy for USMEF this year is to present economical options to buyers, such as underutilized cuts of beef and in some cases, beef from dairy cattle. Japan abolished the cattle age limit for imported beef in 2019, which opened the door to importing beef from dairy cattle.
USMEF’s Tokyo office led a team of foodservice buyers to Wisconsin last month to examine dairy cattle production and learn about dairy beef quality.