2002 News Archive
Consumer Trends Follow Path of Beef Checkoff
DENVER, Colo. (October 11, 2002) – Consumer beef trends suggest that the beef checkoff has been on the right track in its efforts to promote beef, an official of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board told the Beef Promotion Operating Committee and state beef council representatives recently.
Rich Otley, director of evaluation for the Beef Board, said consumer attitude and behavioral research indicates that industry efforts in beef safety, convenience, nutrition and producer image are on the right track in developing better demand for the product.
Beef Board Vice Chairman Andy Tucker, a third generation beef producer from Florida, said it’s important to research the issues to see how well the programs are addressing what’s important to consumers. “If our programs don’t work, it will first be reflected in what’s happening with consumer attitudes,” Tucker said. “What they believe is a predictor of how they’ll behave.”
“While we can’t establish a direct cause and effect relationship,” said Otley, “it isn’t hard to see that what the checkoff is trying to show consumers is being reflected in the attitudes that consumers have about our product, and the way they’re reacting to beef. Since 1998, beef demand has been trending upward. The factors involved are those factors we address with our efforts.”
Speaking to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee and executives of state beef councils in late September, Otley pointed to research about consumer confidence in the safety of U.S. beef as an example. In early 2001, there was concern about beef safety in foreign countries because of discoveries of foot and mouth disease and BSE. But that concern wasn’t reflected in consumer confidence in this country’s beef supply.
In fact, at the height of the FMD scare in 2001, consumer confidence in the safety of U.S. beef stood at 87 percent and has since risen to 89 percent. “That’s a signal that efforts made through the checkoff to assure consumers that their beef supply is safe were on the mark,” Otley said.
Other data that suggests the industry is on the right track is the increasing number of people who believe beef is an important part of a balanced diet. In October 1999, market research indicated that 44 percent of people agreed with that statement. The figure has been trending upward since then, peaking at 58 percent in May 2002 before dropping to 52 percent in July. Research also shows that most people now think beef and chicken are about the same nutritionally, and of those who don’t, more people think beef is more nutritious than chicken.
According to research conducted from August 1998 to August 2001, more consumers give beef steaks/roasts and hamburger a “consistently good quality” rating. For steaks/roasts, the rating increased from 72 percent to 81 percent, and hamburger increased from 54 percent to 69 percent.
Otley also presented research that shows that aided awareness of heat and serve beef products – which the checkoff has supported and the industry has made increasingly available to time-pressed consumers – jumped from 43 percent in October 1999 to 75 percent in July 2002.
“While we’re pleased with the increase in awareness of our new convenient products, we still lag significantly behind poultry in this category,” Otley said. “For the year ending February 1, 2002, the beef industry sold $105 worth of million heat and serve products, while the chicken industry sold $511 million.”
Household spending on beef is, however, increasing at a faster rate. From 1999 to 2001, beef was the only meat for which household spending increased.
The industry’s checkoff-funded “Beef. It’s What’s for DinnerÒ” advertising tagline also has significant awareness, research shows. A solid 73 percent of consumers surveyed said they could recall the tagline in October 1999, and that figure rose to 82 percent by July 2002.
Finally, Otley said consumer opinions about ranchers and cattlemen continues to be high. In August 2001, 71 percent of consumers in a survey said they were either very or somewhat favorable to ranchers, up from 56 percent in August 1998.
“Across the board, the issues that we have been tackling in the checkoff are the ones that are important to both beef demand and to beef producers,” Tucker said. “In research, information and promotion, we’ve made an impact on the marketing environment for our product. As producers we can all be proud of the role we’ve played in keeping beef in demand.”
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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 oversees the national checkoff program, subject to USDA oversight. 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.
In a recent study, 91 percent of producers said they want to know how their checkoff dollars are spent. Yet only 57 percent are aware of the programs. News releases about beef checkoff programs are distributed to acknowledge the producer’s right to information on spending of their checkoff funds.
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