Beef Checkoff Collaborates with U.S. Hotels to Advance Flat Iron Steak Sales

DENVER (August 10, 2004) – Beef checkoff funds are being used to promote flat iron steaks at selected hotels across America in a partnership between America’s Beef Producers and a group of hotel management companies.

Through the $1-per-head checkoff, on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) is working with the companies to advance flat iron steak sales at more than 220 hotels in 48 states. The promotion began in May and runs through the end of this month. The beef industry’s goal is to sell 100,000 pounds of flat iron steaks.

Many hotels are participating in the generic promotion, including select Hiltons, Holiday Inns, Radissons, Sheratons, Marriotts, Embassy Suites, and other major hotels located from coast to coast and from border to border. It is the second such flat iron steak promotion with this group of hotel management companies this year – the earlier promotion ran from Jan. 7 until the end of March.

The flat iron steak was developed with beef producer checkoff dollars through a muscle profiling study designed to find greater value in underutilized beef cuts. Cut from the shoulder clod, the flat iron is a tender and lean steak that can be offered at a lower price than most premium steak cuts.

The product is being manufactured primarily by Buckhead Beef of Atlanta, whose corporate chef attended a checkoff-funded beef seminar last year at the Culinary Institute of America Greystone in Napa, Calif.

Promotional materials will use the Beef Check logo and will reach customers at hotels through in-room table displays, menu inserts, room key card jackets, and posters located in elevators and lobbies. The menu features flat iron steak served four different ways: Mixed Greens Balsamico, Asian Hawaiian Fusion, Spicy Seared, and Summer Style. All recipes were developed by the industry’s checkoff-funded Beef and Veal Culinary Center in Chicago.The Center is managed by the NCBA.