2003 News Archive
Checkoff-Funded Beef Recipes, Information Appear in Media Thousands of Times
Newspapers with combined circulation of more than 8 million published a beef checkoff-funded chili recipe page earlier this year. A total of 335 different newspapers ran the “Chill-Chasing Chili” publicity, which featured five easy beef chili recipes. It also was featured on the “Family Features” Web site, and ran on the Family Features eSyndicate Food Section, reaching more than 300 syndicated online media and community sites.
That’s just one of the projects conducted the past six months through checkoff-funded communications conducted for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Food Communications program. The purpose of the program is to increase visibility of beef in the media, and usage of beef by consumers through the increased visibility and information.
Placements that feature the beef chuck and round include Associated Press releases of a Ginger Beef & Noodle Soup (with ground beef) and Spicy Asian Beef & Noodles (round tip steaks). In addition, the program provided resources to Better Homes & Gardens, which featured a total of 50 beef recipes in eight articles in their Slow Cooker All-Time Favorites (circulation 400,000) special interest publication. And Woman’s Day (circulation 4.2 million) featured positive information on conjugated linoleic acid under the heading Big News About Beef in its April 1 issue.
Value-added products also received attention, with major magazines featuring these kinds of beef in 21 articles with a combined circulation of 54.3 million. For instance, Almost Homemade, a food feature in the April Good Housekeeping (circulation 4.7 million) featured recipes for fully-cooked beef pot roast and ready-too-eat corned beef.
Other sections of the beef case were also promoted. The April edition of Cooking Light (circulation 1.6 million) featured premium beef steaks in two recipes, while the February/March Cooking Pleasures (circulation 600,000), the publication of the Cooking Club of America, featured the article To Sirloin with Love, with five recipes, two color photos, cooking tips and an illustrated guide to sirloin cuts.
Overall, a total of 3,642 placements were made as a result of the checkoff from Oct. 1, 2002, to April 15, 2003. These were made in publications with a combined circulation of 713.9 million.
These beef industry food communication efforts are funded by beef producers through their $1-per-head checkoff program and are managed for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by NCBA. The national beef checkoff is administered by the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, subject to USDA approval. This 108-member board is appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state beef councils, implement the provisions of the Federal Order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs.