USMEF: U.S. Meat Thriving In Japanese Convenience Stores

Consumers have changed their habits because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that’s not all bad news. According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, U.S. Red Meat is thriving in convenience stores in Japan. Jesse Austin, USMEF Vice President for Marketing, said with over 58,000 convenience stores across Japan, they continue to be a dominate source for Japanese consumers to purchase American beef products.

“An interesting trend we’ve seen throughout the pandemic however, is when companies have gone remote, those employees are not commuting to the inner city every day.  So, we’ve actually see a drop in traffic in those inner city convenience stores and we’ve seen traffic increase in the suburban convenience stores.”

Austin says throughout the pandemic, sales and foot traffic have both dropped, but Austin notes sales have dropped much less than foot traffic, indicating that customers are spending more per visit. Austin noted that processed meats have enjoyed strong growth over the past couple of months.

“This is not just exclusive to Japan, we’re seeing similar trends in Korea and even in Mexico where we’ve recently launched some U.S. beef processed items in the convenience store sector.”

Austin added they expect the trend to continue, and spread, promoting more convenience items in a variety of markets and settings.

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