Exceptional nutritional values, such as high protein, iron and vitamin content, and unique taste – these are just some of the features of beef produced in the European Union. Its advantages are also increasingly noticed internationally, including on Asian markets.
High quality European beef
The European Union (EU) is the third largest beef producer in the world (after Brazil and China) – it is responsible for 13% of global production11. Due to the high standards of animal breeding and experience in traditional beef seasoning, customers receive the highest quality product, ready for further culinary processing. The following features make beef from the EU exceptional:
- Nutritional values. Beef produced in the European Union is characterized by a low fat content (up to 5%) and high protein content (18-23%), zinc (3.8 mg per 100 g), absorbable iron (2.5 mg per 100 g) and phosphorus. Beef is also a source of many vitamins: A, D, E, H, B12 (not found in products of plant origin), B1 and B6.
- Colour. The colour of European beef is determined not only by the breed and age of the animals, but also by the conditions in which the cattle is bred – the temperature of the environment in which the cows live, as well as grazing on pastures and the use of roughage (greens) from meadows with a rich composition of vegetation.
- Taste, juiciness and smell. The appropriate content of intramuscular fat, which determines the degree of marbling of the meat, has a key influence on the taste of EU beef. The high fat profile of beef is ensured by appropriate animal breeding conditions.
- Tenderness. It is decided by, among others, gender and age of the cattle, but also proper seasoning of the meat. Fresh beef is hard and compact, only proper seasoning (including the breakdown of muscle proteins) makes the final product soft and tender. It is important to select the ideal conditions, i.e. time and temperature, and the optimal seasoning method – dry or wet.
High taste and nutritional values are not the only features of European beef. We must also not forget about the strict standards observed by producers at every stage of animal breeding and meat production. Inspections of cattle breeding conditions and care for animal welfare, maintaining hygiene rules in accordance with the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points to Ensure Food Safety (HACCP), the use of only EU-approved feed ingredients, transparent certification requirements – each of these factors affects the high quality of beef produced in Europe.
Beef from Europe conquers Asian markets
High-quality beef produced in the European Union countries (including Poland: in 2023, 515,000 tons of beef was produced in our country, 95% of which was exported2) is recognized in the EU countries and markets in Asia. The leading Asian importers are Japan and Hong Kong.
Both Japanese and Hong Kong demand for beef exceeds the capabilities of domestic production. In 2022 alone, over 10.8 thousand tons of beef from the European Union came to Japan, and over 3.1 thousand tons of beef to Hong Kong. Mostly frozen beef and offal are exported to both of these countries, mainly from Poland (7.2 thousand tons and 659 tons in 2022, respectively) and Ireland (2.2 thousand tons and 1,710 tons)3.
Plants shipping beef to the Japanese market must meet the requirements set out in the so-called Export Verification Program. In turn, shipments to Hong Kong must comply with specific refrigeration conditions and contain only raw material originating from Member States eligible for export to that market. Beef exports from European countries (apart from Poland and Ireland, also from Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain) are therefore carried out on strictly defined terms, which is yet another guarantee of meat quality.
- United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, (2024), Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade, report available at fas.usda.gov [online, accessed on 6.07.2024]. ↩︎
- Kowalewska M., (2024), Światowa produkcja wołowiny może wzrosnąć [Global beef production may increase], episode of “Foof&Agro Sonar” of 25.04.2024, available at YouTube BNP Paribas Bank Polska [online, accessed on 6.07.2024]. ↩︎
- All statistical data comes from the website trade.ed.europa.eu [online, accessed on 6.07.2024]. ↩︎
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