Opportunities for U.S. Beef in Europe's Horse Meat Scandal

Opportunities for U.S. Beef in Europe’s Horse Meat Scandal

I’m KayDee Gilkey with today’s Open Range.

Over the last several months, we’ve been hearing about the horse meat scandal as it moved across Europe with many processed beef products being proven to contain horse meat. Bad news for one country’s or region’s ag commodity can sometimes mean opportunity for another country as is the case for U.S. beef exports.

Field reporter Greg Martin has more details.

Martin: “With many European processed meat suppliers under suspension, some larger companies may be looking elsewhere to ensure the safeness and quality -- like U.S. beef as well as New Zealand and Australia -- to provide reliable beef supplies. Another winner in the scandal is U.K. independent butchers with a 15 percent increase in sales as reported by the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders. They also report a 30 percent increase in butchers’ sales of beef burgers as most British butchers specify the source of their meat and butcher their beef on site.”

Other statistics demonstrate what European consumers are doing rather than risk purchasing mislabeled product. According to Kardar World figures in Britain frozen burger sales have decreased by 43 percent and frozen ready meals by 13 percent. Correspondingly a health food retail chain reported increased sales in its soya and tofu lines in early February. A meat-free Sunday roast had sale increases up by 50 percent and vegetarian meatballs had jumped by 30 percent.

Hopefully this negative news can become a positive story for U.S. beef exports.