Beef Checkoff Creates New Foodservice Brochure
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Suggested Lead: The beef checkoff continues to work in partnership with foodservice operators and chefs to keep steak at the center of their menu. In an effort to increase revenue potential for these restaurants, the checkoff has created a new brochure called “Steak. New Menu Frontiers” which helps encourage creativity from chefs by using rubs, marinades and new cooking methods as Bill Jackson, beef producer from Oakdale, Calif., and chair of the checkoff’s foodservice committee explains.
Jackson 1: “Well, I think as a beef producer, we want to have something for foodservice that dealt with what’s really happening with the economy and what’s happening with beef products, so the idea was to provide something for the decision-makers with new ideas. You have to come up with new ideas on how to serve beef; you always have to try to trigger something new to inspire foodservice to get customers back in their restaurants.” (23 seconds)
By creating this new tool, Jackson says the checkoff is trying to encourage consumers who may have given up their restaurant-eating experiences, to come back and enjoy that beef meal they’ve always known and loved.
Jackson 2: “Specifically I guess you want to get that consumer that maybe has backed off of going out and eating a beef meal in a restaurant and having that experience. And I think the way you start is give them an excuse to come out and try something new. And I think that’s important to try something new, try something that’s practical, and that they’re going to feel good about and I think that’s really the idea is to get the consumer back out into the restaurant, enjoying a beef meal and understanding its value.” (27 seconds)
Now that the tool has been created, it may seem like a daunting task to reach all restaurants across the nation. Jackson explains the role state beef councils play in disseminating the new brochure.
Jackson 3: “Not only at the national level but at the state level – it’s so important because the national level has a very broad view. And yet, the state beef council’s part is to really get down and apply these materials right in the heart of all the people they deal with on a state level, which is so important because every state is a little different, has a little different consumer base. So really the people that carry this out are the state beef council staffs and I think that’s real important and that’s really where it gets down to the level where us as beef producers really start to see what our promotion people are doing for us.” (33 seconds)
Finally, Jackson says it’s really a simple theory: that today’s beef producers are not only producing a product, but they want consumers to know the story behind it, and to know how proud they are to be producing a safe, wholesome product.
Jackson 4: “It’s important as a beef producer to understand that we have a product that’s wholesome, it’s nutritional, it’s good value. We’re truly stewards of the land. And I think we really need the consumer to understand that – that we’re here long-term, thick and thin, to provide a product to that consumer that they can be happy with and feel good about eating. Especially in today’s I guess turmoil of economic times and what people should make as choices to eat, we still have a wonderful product that people are very happy with. And I think that’s important; and I think we as producers have been here a long time and maybe we don’t tell our story very well, but I think we’re doing a lot better job than we have in the past.” (40 seconds)
For more information about foodservice initiatives or to order your copy of the new brochure, visit www.BeefFoodservice.com or go to www.MyBeefCheckoff.com for a list of state beef councils and their contact information. To learn more about modern beef production, visit www.ExploreBeef.org.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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