The quality of Argentine beef enjoys international respect and recognition, but on paper, those laurels do not reach many "premium" European consumer markets or countries undergoing rapid growth and shifts in protein consumption, such as some in Southeast Asia.
This was put forward by Italian businessman Antonio Torelli, who owns a beef import and distribution company in the Old Continent and in Asia, at the World Meat Championship (CMDC), which took place this Thursday at the Central restaurant at La Rural.
Torelli founded eight years ago and chairs the company Affinities, based in Sion, Switzerland, which imports meat without intermediaries — in Argentina it works with the company Abuelo Julio, owned by the Castilo family — and, while he praised the quality of Argentine beef and emphasized that the country is experiencing a great moment in exports, he maintained that there is still potential to continue increasing shipments, but that there is still unfinished homework to be done.
For the specialist, there are two types of markets: "premium" ones, where purchasing power is high and consumers are "educated" and know exactly what type and quality of meat they want to eat; and, on the other hand, emerging ones: countries where mass consumption of beef protein is only just beginning and where expectations regarding quality are not particularly high.
In conversation with Clarín Rural, Torelli considered that "the Argentine beef audience is an educated audience, one that knows meat and knows that the product is good. I think Argentine beef can have a very bright future."
But beyond that reputation being known throughout much of the world, more work is still needed for it to reach everywhere. "From my point of view, what Argentine meat processors and producers need to do is travel much more to understand what consumers want and what the reality of each market is," he stated.
"One example is Australia: they are very strong in production because they are very consistent, they have perfect genetics... All their characteristics are good, but they are also very good at telling the story of their product, they have solid storytelling, and that is very important for selling any product, from meat to a t-shirt," he illustrated.
He added: "They tell the whole story: who the producer is, that the grandfather was the one who founded the meat processing plant, what the family is like, everything. The consumer wants to know these things and it is something that helps a great deal when it comes to selling meat."
That is why, for Torelli, "Argentina is lacking a little in that regard. Today it is growing a great deal and has enormous potential, but it can still do better things, especially in the story it tells the world: it needs to tell its story better."
But he also considered that, in many cases, it must have "the right distributor, something very important for positioning a product in the market that corresponds to its quality."
"If your product ends up in a supermarket that is a low-end discounter, it damages the image. That is why a high-caliber distributor is very important — one who can educate the consumer and position the product in the right place," he concluded.
**The "Argentina" brand**
Torelli acknowledges the quality of Argentine beef, and in fact purchases and distributes it abroad, taking advantage of what is often referred to as the "Argentina brand."
"The 'Argentina brand' exists when it comes to beef, but not in all markets," he stated. In Italy, for example, "it is very strong," due to the close relationship that the inhabitants of that country maintain with ours and the cultural ties that have been woven over time.
But "there are markets where, for the moment, the 'Argentina brand' does not exist. For example, in Switzerland, or areas of Asia such as Indonesia, Taiwan or Thailand. They do not know Argentine beef, but they do know that of Australia or South Africa. South America is very distant for the time being and they do not understand this product," he concluded.
