Although surveys indicate significant concern regarding the safety of U.S. beef following its reintroduction to Japan, Japanese consumers snapped up the five metric tons of U.S. beef sold at three Costco stores. The United States Meat Export Federation has been working on the re-introduction of U.S. beef to Japan, basically since the day it was banned, and the planning showed.
Key is something called the “We Care” campaign, 
which includes advertising, retail and foodservice promotions, PR events, press conferences and a web site.
Kudos to Costco and USMEF. Opportunity meets preparation.
A Japanese consumer tries a sample of U.S. beef the first day it went on sale at a Costco store in Tokyo. Customers lined up to taste U.S. beef and many bought multiple packages.
A Costco customer eyes a package of U.S. beef for purchase. Approximately five metric tons of U.S. beef were sold at three Costco stores in one day.
Japanese media capture the return of U.S. beef to the Japanese market. The beef case at this Costco store was stocked full of U.S. beef, but by day’s end, all supplies were snatched up by Japanese consumers.
