Putting a fresh, delicious, healthy meal on the table relatively quickly has become increasingly easier with home meal replacements kits — and the global market is seeing greater demand for these meal options. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) marketing staff from around the globe recently met in Korea to learn more about the opportunity home meal replacements kits provide for U.S. beef and pork producers.
“One of the largest drivers of red meat consumption globally has been the convenience factor,” says Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO. “When I say convenience, I’m talking about home meal replacement, I’m talking about restaurant meal replacement – prepared meal kits, this sort of thing. There’s a real demand and there’s no bigger demand than what we’ve seen in Korea.”
Jihae Yang, USMEF vice president of Asia Pacific, confirms the growth of home meal replacements kits in Korea has been driven by consumer demand for convenience.
“In terms of freshness of diversified recipes, it’s developed in the way that the Korean consumer wants,” Yang explains.
USMEF’s goal with this meeting was to give international staff ideas to develop products that fit the customers in their own markets.
Through support from USDA, the Beef Checkoff Program and the National Pork Board, USMEF promotes the use of U.S. beef and pork in home meal replacements kits in Korea and other markets where these products are gaining popularity.
“We’re in a situation, especially on the beef side, where there’s reduced production,” Halstrom adds. “This is an opportunity to add value to the supply chain, even though we have less production, and I think that’s one of the exciting things. One of our jobs at USMEF is to show options, show alternatives, for the marketplace.”
