“We want marbling to become an official quality standard in Uruguay”

The Aberdeen Angus Breeders’ Society of Uruguay (SCAAU) is once again taking part in the Anuga international trade fair in Germany, accompanying the Uruguayan meat industry and strengthening the presence of the Angus breed on leading international stages. Its general manager, Matías Fuentes, emphasized that the organization’s participation aims to “support export-oriented packing plants—most of which are users of the Angus Beef Certification Program—and to show who we are and how we work in Uruguay.”

Fuentes explained that the certification program is one of the pillars of the Breeders’ Society. “We certify the final product and the entire process, and in recent years we’ve maintained a volume of around 3,000 to 3,500 tons of certified beef per year,” he noted.

The manager also highlighted the growing influence of Angus genetics in Uruguay’s national herd. “According to official data, 55% of all calves born in Uruguay are Angus, and 60% of the bulls sold are Angus as well. This shows the breed’s importance in national production,” he said.

During the fair, Angus Uruguay took the opportunity to approach both importers already working with Uruguayan packers and potential new clients. “Many didn’t know who was behind the certification. We approached them to explain how our system works and to build relationships. We don’t sell beef; we provide a service on a third party’s product, but we act as a link between producers, the industry, and importers,” Fuentes explained.

Regarding prices, Fuentes pointed out that although there is no official price grid by breed, the market recognizes the quality attributes of Angus beef. “The premium comes naturally, based on the type of animal and carcass quality. It may not be formalized, but the value is there,” he affirmed.

One of the Society’s main goals is to incorporate marbling—the intramuscular fat infiltration—as a quality parameter within Uruguay’s official grading system. “Today, we use INACUR, which is based on dentition, conformation, and grading, but the world is moving toward measuring marbling. We want INAC to include it in its INACUR system so that it’s measured in a standardized and official way across all plants,” he said.

For Fuentes, having an institutional measurement of marbling would be a decisive step toward further positioning Uruguayan beef—especially Angus—in the world’s premium markets, where quality and consistency are valued as highly as origin.