The US Meat Export Federation expects demand for US beef to see a boost this summer. Yuri Barutkin says European distributors have made more US beef available to the retail sector. “Every effort to place US product at retail, both online and offline, will be there to stay,” he says. “Summer is sacred for the Europeans, BBQs, grilling outside, it’s almost like a religion here in Europe. So, we definitely hope that it will stimulate much higher sales at retail.”
While US beef was granted greater access to the European Union (EU) at the beginning of 2020 through a country-specific quota, the US industry struggled to fully capitalize on the relaxed quotas because of widespread restrictions on restaurants, tourism, and business travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
