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(Chicago, IL) September 8, 1999 – The best new beef products ushering in a whole new century are only a contest away. Beef producers, through their $1 beef checkoff and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) are sponsoring the Best New Beef Products Awards 2000. Four awards totaling $250,000 will be offered to the retail and foodservice beef products that most effectively address consumer and foodservice needs for beef in innovative ways.
This is the second time this award is being sponsored by the beef producers. There are a number of enhancements to the award initiative, including the addition of four prize winners as opposed to one grand prize winner. The “best new retail beef product” and the “best new foodservice beef product” will receive $100,000 each. Two other awards of $25,000 are being offered to the “best new beef product marketed by a small company” (with under $10 million in annual total company sales for fiscal year 1999) and the “most innovative, commercially promising new beef product.” In addition, the independent Award Selection Committee, comprised of retail and foodservice industry leaders, will designate a “Grand Champion” honor for promotional purposes from the above winners.
“The first award program successfully attracted interest from a number of innovative, creative manufacturers and helped accelerate the introduction of new beef products,” says Carl Blackwell, executive director, NCBA new product development. “As a result, this year we will allow for multiple winners in an effort to launch even more new beef products into the marketplace.”
The contest rules stipulate award recipients use their prize money to help promote or develop new beef products. “This is a great opportunity for manufacturers to supplement their marketing, research and development budgets and a great way for beef producers to increase beef volume at foodservice and retail,” said Blackwell. The NCBA’s goal is to stimulate 100 or more entries from over 50 companies.
The independent Award Selection Committee, comprised of food industry experts, will judge all of the entries. Successful products will be judged on the following criteria:
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Tastes great
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Addresses consumers’ changing needs and/or foodservice operators’ productivity needs
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Is innovative in character and packaging (packaging and merchandising are effective in creating demand)
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Contains at least 33% beef
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Is branded
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Available and successful in retail or foodservice distribution and sales
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Food safety issues have been effectively addressed
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Is new (introduced into the market after January 1, 1998)
Harris Ranch Beef Company of Selma, Calif., the 1998 grand prize winner for its Fully-cooked Pot Roast with natural gravy, set a new trend for beef products that can be heated in the microwave and ready to eat in just minutes. Harris Ranch received increased exposure as a result of winning the award; sales for fully-cooked beef products doubled from 1998 to 1999 and the company expects volume to double again in 2000 (according to Brad Caudill, Marketing Director at Harris Ranch Beef Co.).
“We think products, such as our Harris Ranch Fully-cooked Pot Roast, will play a major role in the future of the beef industry because they provide consumers with great taste, quality, good nutrition and convenience,” says John Harris, corporate chairman/owner of Harris Ranch Beef Company.
Entry submissions must be received by February 29, 2000, and the winners will be formally announced at the Beef Industry Summer Convention in August 2000.
-- NCBA --
New product development programs are funded by the national beef checkoff, which is administered by the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board. This 111-member board 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.
This beef checkoff-funded effort is conducted by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a trade association of America’s cattle ranchers and farmers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry. NCBA is producer-directed but consumer-focused, with offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. |