2004 News Archive
Beef Producers Create Another Tool To Help Retailers Sell More Beef
DENVER (Sept. 29, 2004) – Another tool retailers can use to help them sell more beef has been created as part of the national Beef Checkoff Program. The www.BeefRetail.org Web site is an information resource busy retailers can access to obtain information on marketing and merchandising programs, new product concepts, nutrition research and more.
The site was established on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The NCBA serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.
Among the beef retail programs that can be accessed on the site are display tools from Beef Made Easy™, another checkoff-funded program that simplifies meat case stocking for retailers and makes beef shopping easier for consumers. The program features cuts identified with color-coded cooking methods and corresponding point-of-sale tools to help shoppers understand exactly how to prepare each cut.
In addition, the site provides an overview of the Beef Value Cuts™ program. Recipes created and tested by the checkoff-funded Beef & Veal Culinary Center are also available for download.
Retailers can find information about the industry’s new “Beef Training Camp” on the site. That checkoff-funded retail training program is designed to educate meat department associates in retail operations of all sizes about every facet of beef.
“It’s important we work with retailers to assure they have the latest tools and most successful programs in helping to sell beef,” said Alan Svajgr, a beef producer from Cozad, Neb., vice chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and chairman of the Joint Global Consumer Marketing Group. “Retailers obviously have other products that compete for their attention, so it’s up to beef producers to stick up for our product.”
“Having all of the latest beef information and being aware of the latest trends is an advantage for retailers,” says Randy Irion, director of retail programs for NCBA. “They also appreciate being able to keep abreast of current beef checkoff-funded programs that support their own marketing efforts.”
####
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. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.
Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the NCBA is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.