03/03/08 International natural

There are several niche markets today for selling beef. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about one that is going international. While the natural beef niche market in the United States is a small two percent of total U.S. beef, that doesn't mean natural beef producers can't dream bigger and visualize producing for international markets. This dream is actually becoming a reality, but again on a small scale, just like in U.S. markets. An article in the Farm Journal magazine by Sarah Aubrey discusses different aspects of initiating foreign natural beef markets. The U.S. Meat Export Federation tracks tonnage amounts of protein exports but there is no accurate record of natural beef amounts since the quantity is small, natural is not well defined yet and the main emphasis is regaining foreign markets for U.S. commodity beef. One of the leaders in branded beef, Certified Angus Beef, added a natural line to its program in 2002 and offered CAB Natural to foreign customers in 2006. Over the last 12 months eight exporters have shipped only 12,000 pounds internationally. The main hurdle to gaining export markets for natural beef is being able to provide a consistent supply. Since the largest export markets right now are high-end restaurants consistency of supply is paramount. Some exporters are looking to development more retail sales instead of the food service trade. I think promoting natural beef exports is going to be interesting to watch. I'm Jeff Keane. Farm Journal January 2008