Beef Industry Brand Mark™ Approved For New Products

DENVER (December 21, 2001) – Eight new convenient beef products have been recognized with the beef industry’s checkoff-funded Mark of Quality. The Mark of Quality signifies that these products deliver what consumers expect from beef: taste, quality and satisfaction.

 The new beef products approved for the Mark of Quality include: 

• Betty Crocker ® Cookbook Favorites  ™ Beef Stroganoff and Pasta with Beef Marinara Sauce
• Old El Paso ® Taco Sauce with Seasoned Ground Beef
• King’s Command Foods® Fully Cooked Seasoned Ground Beef
• Mosey’s® Time for Dinner Corned Beef, Beef Pot Roast, BBQ Beef Brisket, and Mesquite Seasoned Beef Brisket

 The Mark of Quality is an integral part of the beef industry’s Brand-Like Initiative, which is managed for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). It is designed to highlight the industry’s focus on consumer needs and wants. Fifty-seven convenient retail beef products have been approved to use the Mark of Quality since the effort began in 1997.

 “Manufacturers who want to display the beef Mark of Quality on their products face rigorous qualifications,” said Texas beef producer James Herring, chairman of the joint industry Brand-Like Commission.

 “The commission sets out rigid requirements for product packaging and presentation, including nutritional values listed on the label, instructions for cooking preparation and other guidelines,” Herring said. “Then the product has to go through NCBA’s Culinary Center in Chicago, as well as a final test by volunteers from the cattle industry who make up the Brand-Like Commission.”

 Approved products are licensed to use the Mark of Quality symbol for one year on packaging and promotional materials. Products must be resubmitted for testing if any element in product formulation or packaging changes during the license period. 

Herring said the Mark of Quality helps tell consumers that a beef product has been extensively analyzed to ensure its quality. The nine-member Brand-Like Commission, consisting of U.S. beef producers and industry leaders, meets quarterly to review branded beef products for potential use of the Mark of Quality.

 National beef industry marketing programs are funded by beef producers through their $1-per-head checkoff, and are managed for the CBB and state beef councils by the NCBA. The 110-member CBB is appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state beef councils, implement the provisions of the federal order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs.

 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.

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Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen`s Beef Association 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.