Contact:                Polly Ruhland                       303/850-3394                       pruhland@beef.org

                              Diane Henderson                 303/850-3465                       dhenderson@beef.org

BEEF CHECKOFF CULINARY CENTER BUILDS

ON COOKERY KNOWLEDGE, RECIPE DEVELOPMENT

DENVER (Feb. 3, 2006) – Even before the $1-per-head checkoff became mandatory in 1986, the beef industry was recognized for its expertise in cookery and recipe development.  That tradition continues in 2006, as the Beef Checkoff Program-funded Culinary Center in Chicago, Ill., generates new foundations of knowledge and provides recipes to both established and new target consumers.

“Consumers will probably always want beef, but we need to present it in ways that make it easy for them to cook and serve it,” according to Cattlemen’s Beef Board member Hope Huffman, a beef producer from McGregor, Texas, and chairman of the joint New Product & Culinary Initiatives Committee. “By giving them the appropriate cooking times and temperatures for all types of appliances, and following that up with recipes that are contemporary, tested and proven delicious, we can increase demand for beef.”

Huffman and the New Product & Culinary Initiatives Committee are highlighting some of the recent programs initiated through the program at the 2006 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in Denver Feb. 1-4.  Among those programs are:

• An applied cookery study that provides information for cooking beef on gas grills.  “We have information on grilling on charcoal, but it needed to be updated,” says Dave Zino, executive director of the Culinary Center.
• Kid-Friendly recipes for younger appetites.  Sixteen of these recipes, along with eight corresponding photos, were developed in late 2005 and distributed to state beef councils for distribution throughout the United States.   
• Development of Hispanic recipes.  “The Hispanic market in this country is growing rapidly, and we need to keep pace with appropriate beef dishes they will love,” says Huffman.

In addition, the Culinary Center has been assisting authors of the checkoff-funded The Healthy Beef Cookbook by providing written demonstration instructions and on-site support at media events.

“We’re proud of the tradition and reputation we’ve established in cookery and recipe development, but just as proud of the progress we’ve made,” says Huffman. “Only by keeping up-to-date will our industry continue to provide a product that’s vibrant and in demand.  And that’s precisely what we intend to do.”

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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.