Beef Checkoff Program Partners with Travelcenters of America

DENVER (Jan. 14, 2005) The Beef Checkoff Program is joining forces with the nation’s largest full-service travel center chain to promote the Flat Iron Steak and Eggs Breakfast. Travelcenters of America (TA) will feature the new menu item at over 110 restaurants nationwide. The meal, which includes a 6 oz. Flat Iron Steak, eggs, homefries and Texas Toast will be featured for $7.99 as a promotion running through March 31, 2005. 

The partnership was initiated on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). The NCBA serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.

“Teaming up with Travelcenters of America is just another example of how partnerships with major foodservice providers give beef products such great exposure,” said Laurie Bryant of Arlington, Va., Cattlemen’s Beef Board member and vice chair of the beef industry’s Joint Foodservice Committee. “Beef producers can capitalize so well on the visibility of partners like TA, and on the investment they make promoting beef products. For every checkoff dollar we have invested in these partnerships, foodservice providers have anted up about $68. You can’t  get a better return than that.”

The Beef Checkoff Program allocated $1.4 million to recent partnerships with foodservice providers during the past three years, while the restaurant partners invested $95.7 million in these same promotional programs.

The promotional partnership is not the only connection between the Flat Iron Steak and Eggs Breakfast and the Beef Checkoff Program. The Flat Iron Steak is a Beef Value Cuts product that resulted from checkoff-funded muscle profiling research. Checkoff dollars fund the type of new product research and development that better utilize the chuck and round, increasing the total value of beef products. Cattle-Fax, a member-owned service organization specializing in market information and analysis, estimates that the increase in the value of the chuck between 1998 and 2003 was worth about $60 to $70 per head. This is based on a $6/cwt increase in value for the chuck and a $15/cwt increase in value for the whole animal over the same time period.

“The Flat Iron Steak is a key component in our efforts to become nationally known as a the premier steakhouse stop for travelers,” said Tina Facca, Manager, Restaurant Marketing for Travelcenters of America. “Research indicates our guests have a strong desire for quality steak and beef items, and we are very excited to present them with this joint promotion.”      

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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.

Travelcenters of America serve travelers at over 110 units nationwide, mostly along the interstate highway system. For a complete list of locations, please visit www.tatravelcenters.com.