Japanese media: The increase in the price of Japanese beef rice bowl is related to the sharp jump in China's beef imports

Source: Global Times

Japanese SPA Weekly article on January 20, the original title: Behind the increase in the price of beef rice is the "hot food" of Chinese? Changes in dining life from pigs to cows "Beef all over the world is going to be eaten by Chinese!" A Japanese meat wholesaler said so. The three giants of Japan's large chain of beef rice bowls (Matsuya, Shikiya and Yoshinoya) announced price increases last year. The sharp rise in the price of beef tongue in the catering industry has also attracted much attention. This phenomenon occurs against the backdrop of Chinese "hot food" of beef.

Image source Visual China

Chinese table was originally dominated by pork. In recent years, China's economy has developed rapidly, people's living conditions have been continuously improved, and the diversified diet has made people's demand for beef soar. In 2020, China's beef imports reached 2.12 million tons, ranking first in the world and more than doubling from 2017.

China's imports jumped sharply, inevitably affecting Japan and other countries. Last year, the three giants of the Japanese beef rice bowl chain raised the price of beef rice bowl because the price of the American beef five flowers used in the rice bowl doubled. In Japan, beef rice bowl is a popular affordable national fast food, and the price increase has brought a great impact. In addition, the United States and Argentina, a major beef consumer, have also been affected. From January to April 2021 alone, U.S. beef exports to China exceeded that of the entire year of 2020, and coupled with the closure of slaughterhouses affected by the epidemic in the United States, the supply of U.S. beef was insufficient and the price was high. Argentina's per capita beef consumption is among the highest in the world, and 70% of its beef exports go to China, making it more vulnerable.

Beef rice bowls and beef tongue were originally only demanded in Japan. As the beef rice bowl chain entered the Chinese market, the situation changed after this delicacy was discovered by Chinese. In the future, the beef competition between Japan and China will only be further intensified. Japan's beef food self-sufficiency rate is only 40%, and more than half of the demand depends on imports. The level of import prices ultimately depends on the purchasing power of the country, and a Japanese meat practitioner said that Japan could not win China at all. At present, the Japanese economy is not improving, the depreciation of the yen is intensifying, and the situation of commodity imports will become more and more severe in the future. The (international) status of the Japanese has also gradually declined, and in the future, even the "cheap and delicious" beef rice bowl and beef tongue will become more and more unaffordable. (Author Eiya Taketani, strict translation)