And the mad cow scare has brought a windfall for the Australian cattlemen. In fact, South Koreans wolf down just 11 kilograms of beef per person per year. That's less than a third of what Australians, Americans or Germans eat on average. In Chinese societies, such as Taiwan and Singapore, pork and chicken are more popular than beef, while in Thailand, some three-quarters of food items on McDonald's menus are chicken, not beef. In India, religious beliefs keep beef consumption low.
Cattle require a lot of grazing space, and obviously space is at a premium in a lot of Asia.
Moreover, in Chinese society, beef is regarded as a 'heaty' meat. You would eat it because the weather is cold, or because you need to stimulate your energy levels. But much of Asia is around the equator in very hot climates where chicken and pork are much more popular. Meanwhile, McDonald's claims, somewhat improbably, that the recent fears over mad cow disease have not affected sales in Asia at all, but won't give any details. Moreover, rival chain Burger King recently closed several stores in Thailand, at least in part because of weaker sales amid the mad cow scare.