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According to the latest CSO figures to the end of April, the Philippines bought 20 times more Irish beef than the US in the first four months of 2017. In this period, the US bought 330t of Irish beef while the Philippines bought 6,658t.
The US market was launched with great expectation in February 2015 by the then Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, but significant volumes of beef sales failed to materialise despite a further promotional visit.
Now Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed is leading a trade mission to the US and Mexico, and the US leg of this will come in for particular attention given the flagging performance of beef and pig meat sales there so far this year.
Imports
Looking at USDA import figures are up to last weekend, 804t of beef have come from Ireland compared with 1,210t for the same period last year. Pigmeat imports from Ireland have halved from 3,094t to just 1,562t this year.
Ireland’s performance in the US beef market contrasts with Brazil, which got US approval in the autumn of 2016. According to the USDA figures, 6,380t of beef have been imported from Brazil so far this year.
Irish beef exports to the US have failed to develop significant volume for two main reasons. Firstly, the US primarily imports manufacturing beef used in burgers and other mince-based recipes. Ireland only secured approval for this type of product in the middle of last year and so far only one delivery of this product has taken place.
Rejection risk
Although a protocol for Irish manufacturing beef has now been established, factories are reluctant to take the risk of product rejection in the US, especially when they have equally lucrative alternative markets in Europe for the leaner product, with the Asian market buying the higher fat content and lower value products.
The reason for the reluctance to send this product to the US is the requirement for a series of E coli tests that isn’t applicable in Europe due to different processing procedures. In the US, lactic acid is used at several stages of processing in the abattoir and cutting plant.
In Europe, the focus is on prevention, with ultra clean carcases being the standard. However, in the absence of an acid wash it is impossible to be certain that absolutely no contamination has occurred. That is why the advice is to cook burgers and ground beef products thoroughly so that any risk is removed, whereas in the US, meat can be consumed in any state as it is sterile after the acid washing process.
Value
Ultimately, various parts of the beef carcase are sold in the markets offering the best return. It will be of little concern to farmers where these are so long as a decent value is returned by factories for the cattle.
In this context, having access to the widest range of options is what maximises the value of the carcase. Therefore, while the US may not be an active market at present, it is valuable to have it as an alternative and having USDA approval gives Ireland an extra credibility in developing other international markets.
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