To expand awareness and grow demand for high-quality U.S. beef and pork in Indonesia, USMEF conducted training seminars in Jakarta for importers, retailers and foodservice operators. A retail training session was conducted for 40 participants from upscale retail butcher outlets, and the first-ever foodservice training session was conducted with an importer and several high-end foodservice operators.

The fundamentals of U.S. red meat production, the U.S. grading system and high-quality attributes of grain-fed U.S. red meat were highlighted during the seminars, which also included cutting demonstrations and idea sharing about cut applications in regional cuisines. The foodservice seminar also featured a friendly cooking competition among 15 of the participants, using U.S. beef top blade.

"In addition to education and training, these seminars help us develop distribution links in the trade, retail and foodservice sectors," said USMEF Indonesia Representative Arrofi Satrio Alam. "We demonstrate the potential for a range of U.S. beef cuts and we introduce high-quality U.S. pork  to the trade."

Satrio Alam emphasized that USMEF sees potential for U.S. pork in Indonesia with the country’s 30 million non-Muslims, adding that USMEF has been conducting U.S. beef and pork promotions with targeted upscale retailers in the region.

Funding support was provided by the Beef Checkoff Program and the National Pork Board.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation