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While U.S. cattlemen seem to have come to expect criticism from animal rights activists, European politicians and health radicals, a group of 16 chefs from five star resort hotels in Latin America had only praise for American beef this summer as they toured feedyards and packing plants in Texas. "We brought together a group of 16 chefs and food and beverage directors mostly from Central American countries to learn about the Texas beef industry, to learn about American beef and how it could be applied in their operations in Central and South America," said Homer Recio of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. The chefs and food directors came from major resort hotels in Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Columbia and Venezuela. "What we want to do is expand their repertoire and show them some under utilized cuts, as well as give them some further merchandising ideas for the cuts that they're already handling," Recio said. Latin America is a $20 million a year market, Recio says. The market for U.S. beef in Latin America, excluding Mexico, in 1998 was about 16.5 million pounds. That was a 35 percent increase over 1997. "We've seen business booming in Central and South America. We see travelers from around the world coming to Latin America," Recio says. "We think we have some opportunities in the hotels and restaurants in these countries to use American beef to satisfy their discriminating clientele." The group toured a feedyard in Tulia, Tex., a packing plant in Plainview, Tex., and a processor that fabricates sub primal cuts into steaks. In Dallas, they visited food service operations before participating in a culinary competition at a culinary school in Dallas where they applied their craft to some American beef. Edgar Vargas, one of the chefs touring Texas courtesy of the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the Texas Beef Council, says he can sell all the USDA Choice beef he can get. His hotel has 800 people a day as guests during the high season, January through March, in San Jose, Costa Rica. Vincent Ordonez, executive chef at the Miramar Inter-Continental Hotel in Panama says, "I go through a 1,000 pounds a week of beef." He says beef is the most popular item on the menu followed by chicken, lamb, pork, fish, then other seafoods. Ordonez says that while Panama has a cattle industry, U.S. beef is preferred by the five star hotels and restaurants. Besides, he says, the Panamanian beef industry isn't large enough to meet the demand for beef in Central America. "Nothing matches the quality of U.S. beef," Ordonez says. "What I want is good quality because I'm charging $30 for a steak," Vargas says. He says that the beef that the group has had on their trip has been great. He says he'd like to be able to get such beef for his hotel restaurants. "We've had good results with American beef," says Glen Champion, executive assistant manager of the Miramar Inter-Continental in Panama. "There's a lot of beef available in that area, but it's not consistent. We tell our Panamanian cooks it's like buying spare parts for a Mercedes Benz. You can be pretty well guaranteed the quality if you go by the catalogue." For that reason, he tries to get USDA Choice for his main dining rooms. Local beef is served in their fast buffets and to the employees. Recio says he thinks beef has a bullish future in Latin America. |
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