Beef Briefs: July 2011
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Look for Beef Briefs to be delivered the first of each month – your snapshot of beef checkoff news affecting the dairy and beef industries. Editor’s note: please feel free to use these news items as space allows in your publication or online content. If you would like to expand on a certain topic, please e-mail Melissa Slagle at mslagle@beefboard.org.
In case you missed it…
… Get the latest beef checkoff updates by “friending” MyBeefCheckoff on Facebook.
… New videos about beef exports and using the web to help people cook beef have been posted on the MyBeefCheckoff YouTube channel.
… The Beef Checkoff Program has issued the call for entries for the fourth annual National Retail Beef Backer Awards.
Down on the Farm
The national Beef Checkoff Program, in partnership with the Nebraska Beef Council, recently hosted two sets of “On the Ranch” work days at feedlots and cow/calf operations in western Nebraska. The program brought together industry representatives, veterinarians, producers and influencers who spent time working on the ranch, asking questions and getting their boots dirty, in an effort to help them better understand modern cattle production and everyday life on a farm.
“On the Ranch” highlights are available on the checkoff-funded ExploreBeef.org website, or visit the Three Different Directions blog by mom blogger Tammy Litke from South Dakota, who participated in one of the work days.
Talking Beef to Millennials
Consumers born between 1980 and 2000 – “Millennials” – enjoy beef but feel as if they need permission to include it in their meal choice and need more information about selection and preparation. So says a new beef checkoff market research project that reached out to this group on their terms, where they are most comfortable communicating – Facebook! The objective of the study was to understand the relationship this generation has to beef, using a methodology that is part of how they communicate on a daily basis.
New International Convenience Products?
Convenience foods are projected to be a $47.5 billion niche market in 2012, and the beef checkoff is trying to capture more of the international market for these products and help sustain the pace of U.S. beef export growth.
Representatives of the checkoff’s Beef Innovations Group (BIG) met with foreign marketing program representatives from the Caribbean, European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South America and South Korea recently to taste and learn how to prepare new beef convenience foods, ranging from appetizers to roasts. The goal was to determine where there may be expansion opportunities for U.S. beef products in some of these key markets.
The team first sampled three new beef appetizer items under development by the checkoff: a Cheeseburger Bite, Tamale Stix and a spicy Santa Fe Beef Plank. They also had the chance to prepare several stovetop items, including skillet steaks and Italian and Mexican steak thins.
These trends tend to follow in Asia about two to three years behind the U.S., and while steak is not currently a typical part of the Korean diet, the ability to cook one in minutes could help win converts in a culture that values convenience.
The situation is different in the Caribbean, where the steamy weather tends to keep people from cooking with a hot oven.
The beef convenience items are in development and will be introduced during the next several months, after which expansion opportunities for these U.S. beef products will be sought in some of the key international markets.
Click here for more information about checkoff-funded new product development.
A Blog Worth Reading
This month, we’re highlighting a blog from the men and women of the National Beef Ambassador Program, funded in part by the beef checkoff. The National Beef Ambassador program works with youth across the country to educate consumers and promote beef. The blog is updated very regularly with content on a variety of topics. One recent post to mention is, “Why Advocate”. Or learn more about regular blog posts from checkoff-funded Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) alums such as Pearl Snaps' Ponderings’ Jessica Bussard. To sign up for the MBA program, click here.
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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