The Monte do Pasto Group, which produces cattle in the Alentejo municipalities of Cuba and Alvito (Beja), wants to increase the export of meat to Asia, particularly to the Japanese and Chinese markets, said its director.

According to Clara Moura Guedes, executive director of the company, Monte do Pasto exports beef “to Macau and Hong Kong” and, next July, will be in Japan, as part of a committee led by the European Commissioner of Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.

“We are trying to open other markets [in Asia],” said Clara Moura Guedes, pointing as examples “Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Alentejo company, which produces cattle and sheep on 4,200 hectares in the municipalities of Cuba and Alvito, also has the entry into the Chinese market in the “horizon”, given “the size and potential that this has.

“The Chinese market is already open for pork from Portugal, but not yet for beef and we are developing a set of steps to get that license to export,” said Clara Moura Guedes.

Founded in 1981, Monte do Pasto was acquired in 2019 by the CESL Asia group, based in Macau, currently exporting 95% of production and having several business areas.

“We control the entire chain, from meadow to plate,” Clara Moura Guedes explained to Lusa, adding that the company “exports live animals, mainly to North Africa and the Middle East, and beef, mainly to Asia.”

The Asian market is one of the “targets” of the new brand of Monte do Pasto, the “Authentic Portuguese Cuisine”, inspired by Portuguese gastronomy and officially presented during the agricultural fair Ovibeja, held in Beja, between April 27 and May 1.

“We have a great interest in developing the concept of Portuguese gastronomy, which we think is undervalued and is not being sufficiently explored by Portuguese tourism,” explained Clara Moura Guedes.

According to the administrator, the new brand “is aimed at restaurants” and counts in its portfolio, besides beef, with black pork or lamb, fish and seafood.

“We want to extend this to a set of Portuguese products, genuine and sustainable, to be able to export a concept and not a set of products,” he stressed.

The first products with the seal “Authentic Portuguese Cuisine” will be exported this week, bound for Macau, followed by Hong Kong.

“In Macau there is a huge potential, because it is the region in the world with the highest density of Michelin-starred restaurants and 35 million visitors per day. Therefore, it has a giant potential in the restaurant area that we will try to take advantage of,” he noted.

According to the executive director of Monte do Pasto, “Portugal does not have the dimension to compete in price, however, it has very high quality products.

“I think we should find niche markets and that’s what we have been doing,” she concluded.

Source: Observador