Veal Programs Surpass 2004 Publicity Goals

A veal publicity goal set for last year by the Beef Checkoff Program was exceeded by more than 10 percent, recent analysis shows.  The checkoff had a $2 million goal for veal publicity value, as measured in estimated advertising equivalency.  Results show that more than $2.24 million in value was generated for veal. 

These veal promotion efforts are funded by America’s beef and veal producers through the national Beef Checkoff Program. The programs are coordinated on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  The NCBA serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.

Other priorities that were successfully addressed were advertising for restaurant and other foodservice operators, retail marketing and chef education.

“We were pleased with the progress we made in 2004,” says Mike Mosner, a veal packer from the Bronx, N.Y., and vice chair of the Joint Veal Committee.  “The visibility we were able to generate with consumers, restaurant operators, chefs and retailers will help veal become more common on American dinner tables.”

Among the successes in the consumer publicity strategy were four veal industry appearances on two national morning television shows, Fox & Friends and the Today Show.  The Today Show alone has 6.6 million viewers.

Information for articles about veal was also placed in major consumer and chef publications such as Chef, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Restaurants & Institutions, Restaurant Hospitality and National Culinary Review.  Cover stories and major photo features were included in the publicity.

A veal media event June 10 helped create additional publicity, as 75 media and food industry thought leaders attended a tableside kitchen presentation and competition at the home of Stanley Lobel, a contributing editor to food publications, cookbook author and president of Lobel and Sons in New York.  Celebrity chefs who helped promote veal at the event, as well as throughout the year on behalf of the checkoff, were David Burke, Waldy Malouf, David Rosengarten and Lobel.

Editors and foodservice operators also received veal story ideas and information from the Veal Dish newsletter, which is published semi-annually.