By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

In April when U.S. beef returned to shelves in department stores, it was expected to take a big piece out of the market dominated by homegrown "hanwoo" and Australian beef.

That expectation didn't translate into reality, as U.S. beef sales proved to fall far short of expectations with some retailers poised to yank it off the shelves.

Shinsegae Department Store, one key retailer, said Tuesday it will stop selling U.S. beef in its Masan store in South Gyeongsang Province as early as this week. It has already stopped selling U.S. beef in its grocery section at its Jukjeon store in Gyeonggi Province.

Sales of U.S. beef accounted for only 1 percent of all beef sales, or about 8 million won ($6,199) in those two stores in April and May, before the figure further dropped to around 0.4 percent this month.

In contrast, Australian beef took up about 11 percent in the same period, while customers for hanwoo beef remained over 85 percent, both figures being about the same level before the resumption of U.S. beef sales.

Even attempts to introduce the American import in more branches ended in failure. Shinsegae's latest store in Centum City, Busan, sold U.S. beef when it opened in March, but yanked it off the shelves in a matter of one week due to slumping sales and growing public criticism.

Hyundai Department Store, which started to sell U.S. beef in its five stores in April, is likely to follow suit, with its sales accounting for less than 2 percent of overall beef sales.

The store said that the exact timing of sales suspension was not fixed.

``We will wait and see customers' reactions before making a final decision,'' a spokesman of the franchise said.

U.S. beef sells better in discount stores. It sold 6.2 billion won at E-Mart with its beginning sales in December last year, but monthly sales have kept falling since at the nation's biggest discount franchise to 2.9 billion won last month. Monthly sales were more than halved in Lotte Mart, from 249 tons in last December to 103 tons in May.

Customers still don't appear to feel safe about U.S. beef, local importers say.

``Sales are well below the expectations. Consumers remain concerned about its safety,'' an official of the Korea Import Beef Association said on condition of anonymity.

Australia remains No. 1 among imported beef. In the first five months of the year, it accounted for 54.7 percent of all imports, followed by the United States and New Zealand with their shares tallied at 31.8 percent and 12.5 percent respectively.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr