US Beef Supplier: Turning a Data Brief into a Structured Market Analysis
Pushed beyond a raw data ask to deliver connected analysis on US beef export trends for a consumer sector case.
Parthsarthi Varma
Analyst 2 at L.E.K. Consulting
From their time as
Analyst
L.E.K. Consulting • 2024 - 2025
Overview
Parthsarthi was working on a consumer sector engagement for a US meat supplier. The case team's ask was straightforward: pull USDA data on beef imports, exports, and cattle production across different tiers and years. The data itself was accessible, and the team expected a data dump.
The Story
Parthsarthi was working on a consumer sector engagement for a US meat supplier. The case team's ask was straightforward: pull USDA data on beef imports, exports, and cattle production across different tiers and years. The data itself was accessible, and the team expected a data dump.
He pulled the data as requested, but before handing it over, he asked the case team to let him handle the analysis layer as well. His reasoning was consistent with how he approaches most workstreams: handing over raw numbers without context on what they mean is not useful. The team agreed.
He cut and analyzed the USDA data to identify patterns, focusing on years where export volumes moved significantly. He connected the data movements to secondary research, identifying specific conditions, including supply disruptions and demand shifts in particular years, that explained why certain numbers spiked or dropped. He then condensed the full analysis into a single slide, structuring it so the headline finding, the supporting data, and the secondary context were all visible without requiring the reader to reconstruct the logic.
The output gave the case team a structured view of the market rather than a spreadsheet to interpret on their own.