2005 News Archive
FOODSERVICE PARTNERSHIPS LEVERAGE CHECKOFF MONEY
SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 2, 2005) – National foodservice restaurant chains have kicked in $68 for every checkoff dollar invested in foodservice/checkoff partnerships in recent years, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board announced at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention in San Antonio this week.
During the last three years, the Beef Checkoff Program has leveraged a small percentage of cattlemen’s $1-per-head investments via more than 20 promotions with national foodservice restaurant chains to help extend the consumer message about beef and get more beef items on restaurant menus.While the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils invested a combined total of $1.4 million, foodservice partners have invested more than $95.7 million in consumer media outreach about beef for the beef promotions.
“That means that for every checkoff dollar invested in these beef promotions, restaurant chains chipped in $68,” said Beef Board member Laurie Bryant. “I don’t think there’s anyone who would argue that that’s a pretty impressive leveraging of producers’ investment.”
Results of the partnerships include millions of public-relations impressions, the addition of new beef items to the chains’ menus, and incremental sales of millions of pounds of beef for the promotions.
Some of the partnerships that the Beef Checkoff Program pursued in 2004 included Pizza Ranch, Quizno’s, RAM International, Domino’s, Taco Bell, Aramark, Arby’s, Ground Round, B.F. Saul, Stuart Andersons, Buckhead Brewery,Quaker Steak & Lube, and Dunkin Donuts. Besides the restaurant chains, other new retail checkoff partners during the year included Wal-Mart’s “Thrillin’ & Grillin’” promotion, Kraft, This Old House (magazine), A-1 Steak Sauce, Beringer wines, and Bordens.
“Time after time, we’ve seen these checkoff partnerships yield great results in terms of beef sold, even though our investment is relatively small,” Bryant said. “That’s good news for anyone in the beef industry because increased beef sales benefit everyone in the industry, and it sure seems like cattlemen are getting a strong return on their dollar here.”
The restaurant partnerships in 2004 were managed for the Cattlemen's Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors.
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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 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.