Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation
With more young Chinese professionals gaining a palate for U.S. pork and beef and an interest in cooking it at home, USMEF recently conducted four consumer cooking classes in Shanghai. Funded by the National Pork Board and the Beef Checkoff Program, the classes combined education with social media activities to reach a wider audience across China’s most populous city.

“A healthy diet is becoming more and more important to Chinese people and we have been promoting U.S. pork and beef as high-quality and high in nutrition,” says Ming Liang, USMEF marketing director in China. “Particularly in Shanghai, where incomes are relatively high, there is strong demand for healthy dining. To meet this demand, we developed a collection of simple recipes for home cooking. Many consumers we talk to say they are interested in serving U.S. meat to their children, which shows that we are having success getting the information out about the nutritional value of U.S. pork and beef.”

Liang says cooking classes like those USMEF organized in Shanghai are quite popular for people aged 20 to 40 in China’s urban areas.

“They can learn cooking techniques and exchange ideas in this community setting,” he says. “The participants tend to be teachers, doctors, bank employees and other young professionals who have families.”

The chefs selected to lead the classes had experience in creating authentic regional dishes. They shared recipes for U.S. pork CT butt, boneless pork loin, pork sausage and U.S. beef burgers. Recipes prepared and sampled at the classes were Cantonese-style barbecue pork with honey sauce, Japanese-style baked tonkatsu over rice, German-style bratwurst with sauerkraut and beef burgers.

Each class also featured a dietitian presenting the benefits and attributes of U.S. pork and beef and sharing information about their nutritional aspects.

Throughout the classes, attendees shared their experiences on WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform. To encourage sharing of photos and information, USMEF rewarded participants who earned the most “likes” for their posts during the class.