USMEF Excited About Potential In UK

The U.S. Meat Export Federation celebrated the return of duty-free access in the United Kingdom with a pair of events in at the American Embassy in London. USMEF Chair Jay Theiler, of Idaho’s Agri Beef, sees new opportunities, not only in restaurants, but also the British retail sector.

"We had a presentation by the charge d'affaires, the agricultural counselor, great contacts from the trade," Theiler said. "It was a wonderful evening. We had a great conversation with a lot of potential partners like Costco, and we had our policy makers from the embassy there. So it was just a wonderful way to kick off the new partnership.”

Face-To-Face Meetings Are Key

Theiler stressed that trade builds trust, and that can only happen with good partnerships.

“You have to meet face-to-face for that to happen," he noted. "The retail tour in London was fascinating. We were able to visit some mainstream retailers, we visited Costco, we visited some more of the specialty retailers like Marks and Spencer. All the stores have some type of home meal replacement. They're really going after the food service and trying to compete with food service.”

Activities in London were made possible through funding support from USDA, the Beef Checkoff Program, and state beef councils from Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas.

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