| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Ron Zellar |
| April 30, 2004 | (406) 444-3144 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
(EDITORS: Photo of Director Ralph Peck greeting Seiichi Uzurahashi, president of Starzen Co. Click to download.)
Tokyo Importer Looks Forward to U.S. Beef
HELENA, Mont. — It may take a little time, but the president of Japan's largest meat supply company says he looks forward to a resumption of purchases of U.S. beef.
"When you visit Japan next time, I want to invite you to dinner and
we should enjoy US beef in Japan at that time," said Seiichi Uzurahashi,
president of Starzen Co., Ltd., in a letter to Ralph Peck, director of the
Montana Department of Agriculture.
Uzurahashi wrote to Peck to thank him for hosting a dinner during a Montana
agriculture and tourism trade mission that concluded last week. During the
1990s, Starzen Co. owned a cattle ranch near Dillon, Mont. Starzen is the
nation's largest meat supplier and produces the majority of the ground beef
for McDonald's hamburgers sold in Japan.
Agriculture officials met with beef importers and industry representatives in Tokyo and Osaka to learn more about beef consumption and the meat marketing and preferences in Japan. Peck says such information, and the building of personal relationships, will be valuable as Montana producers attempt to market branded beef in the United States and abroad.
In his letter, Uzurahashi recalled fondly his association with the Montana, saying, "I and my wife, Keiko, very much enjoyed the people I met and longingly recalled the beautiful range of mountains and the kindhearted people of Montana."
Governor Judy Martz led the combined agriculture and tourism trade mission to Japan and Taiwan. Montana epitomizes ranching, mountain scenery and open space to many Asian visitors. Sales of Montana-branded products should be enhanced by promoting both tourism and agriculture, Peck says.
