Texas Cooking Goes International

Around the world, checkoff-funded Texas Beef Festivals are introducing 
U.S. underutilized cuts of foreign buyers and consumers.  By promoting beef cooked in the 
Texas culinary tradition, the festivals grow U.S. beef exports. 

by Doug Perkins

Imagine you accepted a promising position with a major U.S. beef exporting company.  Your first sales prospect is a foreign restaurant operator whose limited culinary skills include braising or stewing small pieces of his native grass-fed beef.

You teach him the art of grilling grain-fed steaks, and he places U.S. Choice ribeye and striploin on his menu.  A year later, though, his purchases remain at 200 kilograms (about 440 lbs.) a month.  To remain in business, you have to sell him more volume.

Your analysis reveals that Choice steaks are fine for expense-account travelers, but these cuts are too expensive for the average citizen. So you encourage your customer to add underutilized cuts like brisket or shoulder clod.  The big question is how do you teach him to use them?

Welcome to the world of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), the beef checkoff's international marketing organization.

USMEF has answered the same question in almost every country it has accessed.  Early on, USMEF staff discovered Prime and Choice cuts are the only options for a small number of foreign buyers.  Yet the key to building ever-growing U.S. exports is by marketing byproducts and underutilized cuts from the chuck and round.  These low-cost, high-value beef products allow the U.S. to compete on price in markets with viable national beef industries and Australian imports.

One way USMEF has showcased U.S. underutilized cuts has been through Texas Beef Festivals, events partly funded by the checkoff through the Texas Beef Council.  In these promotions, USMEF staff works with a restaurant or hotel chain to feature U.S. underutilized beef cuts cooked in the Texas culinary tradition-smoked brisket, pot roast, chicken-fried steak, fajitas and more.

The promotions include Texas-style decorations to carry out the theme, a Texas-built smoker to cook the beef, and the expertise of a Texas chef and USMEF staff to train the foreign buyer on how to prepare high quality grain-fed underutilized cuts.

Since 2000, USMEF's foreign staff has conducted more than 30 festivals in Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, Asia and Eastern Europe .

Although named for Texas, the festivals showcase the multiple qualities of U.S. beef.  Texas, globally recognized as a bastion of U.S. cowboy culture, is merely the hook to grab interest in the promotion. The Texas name allows a foreign foodservice operator to set himself apart from his competition.

But, Texas also is a universal synonym for beef.  As celebrity chef Stephan Pyles said, Texas is one of the few United States (Louisiana and California being the others) to possess a unique cuisine.  Of the three cuisines, however, Texas alone showcases underutilized beef cuts.

"The festivals have helped promote the fun of beef eating and beef culture, and exposed chefs, the media and consumers to an important regional cuisine," said Joel Haggard, USMEF's vice president for Asia Pacific.  "(Foreign) chefs have loved the Texas promotions because of the increase in business and publicity they have registered."

In 2001, the Texas Department of Agriculture's Go Texan Partnership Program (GOTEPP) also partly funded the program.  Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Susan Combs has praised their beef-marketing power.

"This project is a great example of how we can pool our resources in creative and meaningful ways," Combs said.  "These festivals do more than just share Texas taste.  They also educate, showing how underutilized cuts of beef can be a popular part of any menu.  That's what makes buyers in these countries come back for more."

Although generally just a two-week promotion, the festivals have proved to have much longer term benefits for the beef industry.  They include:

Establishing the foothold:  In many new markets, foreign chefs and retailers built their careers on cooking grass-fed beef from domestic cattle herds or from U.S. competitors.  As a result, they don't like what they know of their small end cuts like brisket or inside round.

Texas festivals reveal to them the secrets of a new culture-a cowboy culture renowned for cooking grain-fed brisket, back ribs, shoulder clod and eye of round in a delicious, unique way.

"The Texas festivals have been great aids in introducing new cuts to the foreign trade," Haggard said.  "But they also are important in showing foreign buyers about a concept.   When they see a Texas festival, they begin to wonder why their city doesn't have a barbecue restaurant.  And that leads to more training and openness about using U.S. beef."

USMEF staff use the festival planning period to educate foreign buyers about the benefits of grain-fed beef.  They show the foreign restaurant operators why they must cook a brisket or roast over low heat for several hours to achieve tenderness.  Through this process, the foreign users comprehend the characteristics of different underutilized U.S. cuts.

At that point, the chef or restaurant operator often applies his culture's flavors to the cuts.  Once that experimentation occurs, it's even money that some U.S. cuts will find a permanent place on his menu.  And U.S. exporters have an easier time establishing their foothold.  And when demand increases, everyone in the beef chain benefits.

Showcasing U.S. Beef's Variety:  When the program first began, a few U.S. exporters feared that linking a U.S. beef promotion to a Texas name would discourage foreign buyers.  They believed that longtime users of U.S. beef-particularly those in Asia -perceived Texas as a region that produced at best Low Choice beef.

Although the perception is debatable, the critics completely missed a critical point about the festivals-that is, they sell underutilized cuts.  As Dr. Jeff Savell, leader of the meat science section at Texas A&M University , points out, quality grade has much more relevance to middle meats than it does to underutilized cuts.

The reason is that end cuts do not deposit marbling the way middle meats do.  Therefore, it makes little difference if a knuckle or a brisket is Prime or Select.  Cuts within both quality grades have connective tissue that requires a long, slow cooking process to make tender.  Many Select underutilized cuts also yield more saleable lean than their Prime counterparts, giving them an advantage in addition to price.

Certainly, some foreign chefs prefer to buy High Choice end meats.  That's a testament to the powerful sales programs of companies like Certified Angus Beef that have promoted their products internationally for more than a decade.  But Texas Beef Festivals prove to chefs that U.S. beef has more than one satisfactory product.   This variety is what will help the U.S. compete with grass-fed beef that is produced with lower or subsidized production costs.

Targeting Consumers:  Because of limited checkoff dollars, much of USMEF's new-market efforts have to be directed to the foreign trade.  A Texas Beef Festival provides USMEF staff with the dual opportunity to get beef messages to the foreign consumer at no additional cost.

There is worldwide fascination with the Texas name-a fascination that can be traced back to Hollywood 's influence on the world.  From James Dean in the movie Giant to Robert Duvall in the television miniseries Lonesome Dove, Texas has long ties to the mythical cowboy. And it is the true home of his real counterpart.

That's why, even in this country, the Texas name is a strong marketing tool for beef.  Look at Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon and Texas Roadhouse.  Both are successful nationwide chains, but neither is headquartered in Texas.

Although Texas doesn't have sole license to the cowboy culture, the U.S. beef industry does.  When used in foreign markets, a marketing approach dressed in Texas clothes has proved a powerful selling tool in getting consumers to try U.S. beef and learn about its attributes-tenderness, safety and nutrition.  Then when foreign consumers request beef cuts they have tried at foodservice, foreign retailers take note.

"The Western or Texas theme has many offshoot benefits for the U.S. beef industry," said Homero Recio, USMEF vice president for the Western Hemisphere .  "Consumers, particularly in the Americas, are sympathetic to the U.S. and understand that the West is an important part of the U.S. That tie-in has been very successful for us."

Creating Extended Opportunities:  One of USMEF's objectives with the Texas festivals has been to place U.S. beef on the foreign operator's permanent menu.  The festivals have achieved this goal in Warsaw, Hong Kong, El Salvador and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago to mention a few.

For the right country, the promotions could have amplified effects.  For instance, in South Korea, USMEF Director Brad Park contemplates possibilities for his country after conducting seven Texas festivals in summer 2001.

For instance, a chain of Texas-concept restaurants in South Korea's five-star hotels may have great appeal.    He feels these restaurants will showcase U.S. beef in foreign markets the same way Argentine restaurants do for that country's product.

"These are exciting ideas, but we don't have the right partner on the table yet," USMEF's Park said. "I will keep looking for the right person to make the project reality."

In countries where distributors are the key to building U.S. beef exports, Texas festivals help the distributor build volume sales and make larger orders.   This brings them closer to the day when they can purchase load lots directly from major U.S. packers, have the product shipped in a refrigerated container by sea, and enjoy volume cost savings.

Recio points out that the festivals have shown distributors the potential of further processing some raw U.S. cuts like brisket.  Because many foreign restaurant operators are reluctant to devote 12 hours of cooking time to prepare brisket,  USMEF advises distributors to pre-cook these kinds of U.S. cuts for several customers at a time.  Everyone benefits because a value-added brisket still can be plated for pennies a serving and menued for much more than that.

In El Salvador, USMEF worked with a distributor who has sponsored several Texas Beef Festivals.  He smoked U.S. briskets for a restaurant customer during Christmas 2001 that sold a record 2,000 lbs. of the product.  The distributor is establishing a plant to smoke U.S. brisket on a larger scale.

In Poland , too, USMEF has encouraged that country's largest U.S. beef buyer to develop a value-added brisket industry.  In winter 2001, USMEF and TBC sent Texas restaurant operator Tom Perini of Buffalo Gap to Kolo, Poland, as a consultant.  He offered advice on seasoning, smoking and packaging briskets for foodservice and retail.

There's no doubt that Texas Beef Festivals, with the help of checkoff dollars, have created foreign demand for U.S. grain-fed beef products.  And when beef demand increases, the positive effect benefits everyone in the beef marketing chain, even if you personally never sell a kilo of U.S. beef in the export market.

So every time you grill a steak, smoke a brisket or cook a roast in your style, you're doing more than just making a meal; you are perpetuating a cooking method that puts your beef products on the world's table.

Editor's Note-Doug Perkins is vice president of beef development for the Texas Beef Council.