|
|
|
Imported Lean Beef Is Big Business For American Foodservice |
|
Perishables: Meats & Poultry May
24, 2004 |
| The United States has a beef shortage and that could be good news to either US beef producers desiring to ramp up and alter their production, or overseas countries such as Australia or New Zealand that export large quantities of beef to US markets. |
| Whatever way one looks at it, American Food Service is in the right business. As Bob Chudy, vice president for procurement at the King of Prussia, PA - based business, says, imported beef today fills a much needed niche. This is especially good news to steamship lines such as Hamburg Sud and Columbus Line that handle the commodity on their lengthy trade lanes from Australia and New Zealand and the seaports that receive the carriers and this freight. |
| Chudy reveals that American Food Service, while not in the beef importing business itself, is the ultimate middleman of the imported beef products. The company purchases 1.8 million pounds of imported beef per week. That’s a lot of hamburgers, folks! |
| “The ultimate user of the beef products is the general public,” says Chudy. “We sell our beef to major fast food chain establishments such as Sonic, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. These companies are our largest clients and they are among the largest customers for imported beef.” |
| “There are levels of quality of service that is important to us as well as certain ports of call that I need,” he says. “I actually get very involved with the importers in deciding what steamship line they are going to use.” |
| Chudy classifies steamship lines as being a “premium operator” or those with a secondary service. Hamburg Sud, he says, is one example of a premium operator. |
| “Hamburg Sud is dependable. Things happen when they say they will,” he states. “Hamburg Sud operates larger ships with an ample amount of available space. Smaller steamship carriers such as SafBank, Mid Shipping and some other carriers on the West Coast are fringe players in the industry, operating smaller vessels.” |
| In addition, certain lines are better suited for certain ports than others. |
| The reason beef imports are in such demand has, in part, to do with the fact that diets such as Atkins have placed beef on the “must eat” list. A more pronounced reason is the shortage of beef in the United States. |
| “This country simply does not have enough manufacturing grade of lean beef to go around,” Chudy says. “What we produce in the United Stated is largely beef produced from corn-fed cows, which makes table grade meats such as steaks, roasts, and ribeye items. This generates a lot of fat trimming.” |
| American Food Service, on the other hand, imports lean meats that are produced from cows that are grass-fed, which works well for ground beef products such as hamburgers. |
| “But this type of meat product is not good for steaks or roasts,” Chudy explains. “But we mix it with the fat trimmings that are generated domestically and make ground beef.” |
| “A Premium Operator” |
| American Food Service acquires the lean beef from overseas companies that are importing on behalf of the company, or a group of companies that specialize in buying and importing beef who sell the product to companies like American Food Service. |
| “Many of these companies are located in Australia and some are in the United States,” he says. |
| Even though the company buys their meat products from a middleman, Chudy explains that he still gets involved in decisions regarding what steamship lines to use for the trade and the ports of call he would like the meat products to be delivered to. |
