Funded by the National Pork Board and the Beef Checkoff Program, the classes combined education with social media activities to reach a wider audience across China’s most populous city.

"A healthy diet is becoming more and more important to Chinese people and we have been promoting US pork and beef as high-quality and high in nutrition," said Ming Liang, USMEF marketing director in China. "Particularly in Shanghai, where incomes are relatively high, there is strong demand for healthy dining. To meet this demand, we developed a collection of simple recipes for home cooking. Many consumers we talk to say they are interested in serving US meat to their children, which shows that we are having success getting the information out about the nutritional value of US pork and beef."

Liang said cooking classes like those USMEF organised in Shanghai are quite popular for people aged 20 to 40 in China’s urban areas.

"They can learn cooking techniques and exchange ideas in this community setting," he explained. "The participants tend to be teachers, doctors, bank employees and other young professionals who have families."

The chefs selected to lead the classes had experience in creating authentic regional dishes. They shared recipes for US pork CT butt, boneless pork loin, pork sausage and US beef burgers.

Each class also featured a dietitian presenting the benefits and attributes of US pork and beef and sharing information about their nutritional aspects.

Recipes prepared and sampled at the classes were Cantonese-style barbecue pork with honey sauce, Japanese-style baked tonkatsu over rice, German-style bratwurst with sauerkraut and beef burgers.

To emphasise the easy-cooking angle, USMEF also included a burger and sandwich cooking exercise for kids.

Throughout the classes, attendees shared their experiences on WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform. To encourage sharing of photos and information, USMEF rewarded participants who earned the most “likes” for their posts during the class.