What's The Beef? Kiwi, Of Course
NEW ZEALAND - has scored a big coup in the prized Japanese beef market, being chosen as the sole supplier to fast-food chain Burger King in its campaign to re-enter Japan. .
21 June 2007
1 minute read
| FLAME-GRILLED KIWI: NZ has scored a big coup in the prized Japanese beef market, being chosen as the sole supplier to fast-food chain Burger King in its campaign to re-enter Japan. |
The initial contract is small but has potential to grow enormously.
It will be some good news for sheep and beef farmers hard-pressed to make a profit this year after low lamb returns and drought.
Burger King, the world's second-largest fast-food hamburger company, entered the Japanese market in 1996 with 25 outlets in the Tokyo area.
It was forced to pull out in 2001 after losing a price war with McDonald's and other fast-food chains.
The company has re-entered the market, opening its first outlet in the up-market Shinjuku district of Tokyo this month.
It will open its second outlet in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district tomorrow and is aiming to have 50 operating within three years and 100 within five years.
It is also using fish and cheese from New Zealand.
The 113-gram beef patties used in Burger King Japan's Whopper burgers will all be supplied by Kiwi Pacific Foods, of Auckland, a private New Zealand-owned company that sources premium steer and prime-grade cows from local processors.
A Kiwi Pacific Foods spokesman said he could not reveal the value of the contract or other details.
