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Frequently Asked Questions

On behalf of the Beef Checkoff, the Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education (FMPRE) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) partnered to issue a beef safety request for proposals addressing three high-priority research topics. All research priorities focused on Salmonella in ground beef products and ways to better understand and reduce the pathogen’s presence.

• Risk assessment model to assess the impact on public health of ground beef lots based on the contamination level and presence of highly virulent or multidrug-resistant strains.

• Using empirical evidence, modeling and risk assessment methods to estimate the public health impact of incorporating enumeration and virulence as part of the criteria for evaluating Salmonella contamination in ground beef in the U.S.

• Evidence-based, quantitative risk assessment to control salmonellosis attributable to ground beef – evaluating and mitigating the contribution of lymph nodes to Salmonella contamination.

Additional projects are under consideration for collaborative funding. Using outbreak data through 2018, the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) estimates that approximately 5.7 percent of foodborne salmonellosis in the U.S. is attributable to beef. 1The funding provided by beef farmers and ranchers to support Salmonella research efforts protects public health and enhances consumer confidence in beef products.

Frequently Asked Questions

Penn State’s Butcher School students walked through the fabrication and breakdown of two chuck subprimals with Bridget Wasser, senior executive director of product quality and education with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Checkoff. NEBPI was present to make the introduction as the local contact for all things beef.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Leading up to the official kickstart of summer grilling season, NEBPI will partner with FreshDirect, an East Coast online retailer giant, to speak to beef’s flavor and versatility.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Beef will be featured in June for Nutrition Month at Giant Foods. Giant’s nutrition program gives shoppers access to a team of licensed nutritionists and registered dietitians to help them make the best choices for their families’ health.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

As many cattlemen and women know, some individuals, organizations and companies spread misinformation about cattle’s role in the environment. The Beef Checkoff works tirelessly to combat this message through scientifically proven research, because, ultimately, the truth is in the science. For years, the Beef Checkoff has invested producer dollars into the Beef Sustainability Research Program to learn, understand and strategically communicate beef’s place in a sustainable food system.

The Beef Sustainability Research program provides consumers worldwide with proof of beef producers’ commitment to responsibly raised beef. This Checkoff-funded program assesses beef sustainability using an approach that balances environmental responsibility, economic opportunity and social diligence across the beef value chain. This research is conducted to provide science-validated sustainability indicators that serve as industry benchmarks and provide a path forward to continuous improvement. The research encompasses the entirety of the beef industry, from the birth of a calf to beef on the consumer’s plate. This research program is a proactive and innovative scientific approach to creating a sustainable beef product for a growing world population while increasing consumer confidence in beef.

After in-depth research, here’s what the Beef Checkoff has proven to be true – U.S. beef producers are leaders in the area of sustainability, and they are committed to responsibly raised beef. But how do we use these facts to help drive demand for beef?

This research provides a basis for most Checkoff-funded advertising campaigns and other initiatives. Beef’s sustainability message is then communicated to many audiences, including consumers, nutritionists, registered dietitians, the scientific community, influencers, chefs and communities abroad through a fully integrated marketing approach.

Specifically, this information is used in advertising efforts like the Checkoff-funded Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. “Nicely done, beef.” campaign and Checkoff-sponsored articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other consumer-facing publications. Additionally, social media, video and digital marketing efforts integrate this research in one form or another.

All of this data, research and information is available for producers on the Checkoff-funded website, BeefResearch.org. This website provides information on not just beef’s place in a sustainable food system, but also beef safety, human nutrition, product quality, sustainability and market research.

Check out just a few of the data points currently being communicated to target audiences: https://www.beefresearch.org/programs/beef-sustainability

Frequently Asked Questions

When looking at a restaurant menu, you’ll most likely see various meal options ranging from beef, pork, chicken, vegetarian and so on. If you’re like most cattlemen and women, you’d like to see more beef dishes available at different restaurants everywhere. And who are the people making the executive decisions about what’s on those restaurant menus? Chefs.

Chefs, restaurateurs and other culinary professionals have the power to develop new beef recipes, include more beef items on their menus and deliver the high-quality beef their customers love. Chefs’ efforts in the kitchen contribute to beef demand, and that’s why they’re such a crucial target audience for the Beef Checkoff.

To get more beef on more menus, the Beef Checkoff has invested producer dollars into chef outreach tactics. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, chef outreach has pivoted to include technology-driven efforts and events. This is ideal in some circumstances because it allows the Beef Checkoff to reach larger audiences.

Virtual media tours have effectively reached both consumer and culinary audiences. These tours featured celebrity chefs in the Checkoff-funded Culinary Center located at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) offices, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff.

The Culinary Center is an ideal location where chefs can develop and perfect their beef recipes. The virtual media tours hosted there offer reporters, newscasters and other media members from across the U.S. the ability to do one-on-one virtual interviews and news segments with celebrity chefs to learn more about them and why they love and choose beef.

In addition to the Culinary Center, NCBA has a Checkoff-funded restaurant engagement team dedicated to working with and appealing to professionals in the restaurant sector. This group of professionals executes the Beef News Now newsletter, which delivers the latest foodservice and retail news, trends and hot topics in the beef industry to food professionals. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, this team has encouraged and helped chefs adapt their menus to fit curbside and takeout trends.

Another Beef Checkoff effort to engage chefs was a video series that brought beef producers and chefs together to learn about beef’s lifecycle from pasture to plate. This unique video series was in partnership with Chef’s Roll, a global culinary community. It featured chefs on the ranch as they got a first-hand look at the care and best management practices producers put into producing high-quality beef. This series then shows the producers’ experiences as they tour the chefs’ restaurants to see how some of their most popular and complex beef dishes are made. The videos were shared with the Chef’s Roll culinary community through multiple social and digital channels, with their Instagram posts reaching nearly 800,000 culinary professionals. Through this video effort, thousands of chefs across the country are now enlightened on environmental stewardship, cattle handling techniques, quality control and animal welfare priorities.

Not only does the Beef Checkoff strive to reach chefs on a national level, but it also implements state-specific efforts through Qualified State Beef Councils (QSBCs).

Every QSBC implements its state-specific efforts and utilizes chefs through multiple initiatives. This can include recipe videos on YouTube and social media, live cooking classes, education-focused webinars on beef nutrition, cutting and serving techniques and promotional partnerships, to name a few.

One exciting state effort launched by the Texas Beef Council (TBC) is a new “Beef Loving Chefs” podcast. This gives chefs and others in the foodservice and hospitality industries the opportunity to share and listen to personal journeys, relationships and experiences with TBC and the Texas beef industry. One particular episode goes in-depth on one chef’s journey to modify his menu to capitalize on takeout demand and keep his restaurant afloat while in-person dining was prohibited.

On an international scale, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, also implements chef engagement tactics. USMEF executed numerous virtual cooking classes, training sessions, grilling workshops and demonstrations across the world this past year. At a particular training session, USMEF China showed chefs cutting and cooking best practices for Asian-style barbecue. U.S. beef cuts highlighted during this session were U.S. beef heart, hanging tender and top blade. More than 50 chefs and restaurant managers participated.

Whether it be a state, national or worldwide endeavor, the Beef Checkoff is dedicated to expanding chefs’ love of beef and getting more beef dishes on their menus.

Frequently Asked Questions

How the Beef Checkoff supports technology and state-of-the-art research to disseminate meat demand data and grow industry knowledge.

To help drive consumer beef demand, the Beef Checkoff works to understand beef’s place in the protein marketplace. To successfully understand beef demand, the Beef Checkoff must first recognize consumer demand, views and preferences for all proteins, including meat alternatives.

A One-Stop Shop

For Glynn Tonsor, Ph.D., understanding consumer meat and food demand comes naturally. While growing up on a hog farm in Missouri, Dr. Tonsor quickly developed an interest in agricultural markets and pursued that interest, eventually taking on his current position as a professor in the Agricultural Economics department at Kansas State University.

Today, Dr. Tonsor executes and authors the Meat Demand Monitor (MDM) project, funded in part by the Beef Checkoff and Pork Checkoff.

The MDM tracks U.S. consumer preferences, views and demand for meat with separate analysis for retail and foodservice channels. It is a monthly online survey with a sample of more than 2,000 respondents reflecting the national population. A third-party company continuously collects this consumer data every month. Overall, the MDM is a one-stop location for meat demand trends and assessments and is also available for all audiences.

Early on in his career, Dr. Tonsor noticed a knowledge gap on the demand side. According to him, one central theme continued to materialize through his research and discussions – producers don’t understand the importance of meat demand.

“Producers are used to watching the monthly cattle-on-feed report, reading annual cattle inventory reports and a whole wealth of supply-side monitoring, and that’s valuable,” he said. “On the demand front, there’s a lot less parallel information, and what does exist is pretty lax.”

Dr. Tonsor recognized the issue and information gap, talked to industry professionals, started a partnership with the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, and received approval and funding for the MDM project. In February of 2020, the MDM was officially up and running to increase knowledge about U.S. meat demand and help producers understand its importance.

Key Trends

Because the MDM was functioning before the coronavirus pandemic, the data gathered has proved valuable, specifically on foodservice versus retail insights.

“The main finding would be that, to date, retail beef demand has increased while foodservice peak demand has decreased,” Dr. Tonsor said. “This finding is important, not necessarily surprising, but we’re able to track it. And maybe at some point, we’ll see that being unwound. Hopefully, as 2021 concludes, we’ll start seeing the foodservice sector recover.”

The MDM has collected additional insights on the coronavirus’ impact on meat demand. These have been summarized in three separate COVID-19 special reports. The November report detailed how, even when consumers get vaccinated, about one-third of the people surveyed say they will not return to in-restaurant dining.

“Asking about a COVID vaccine isn’t in itself a meat demand question, but when you follow it up with a question like ‘How will you alter your dining out, sit-down and restaurant behaviors?,’ we’re able to understand what’s needed to help the recovery of the foodservice segment,” Dr. Tonsor said.

Analyzing these trends is critical for the Beef Checkoff to judiciously invest producers’ dollars in future projects to reach a new era of eating-at-home consumers.

Protein Values

Beef Checkoff marketing decisions take into account consumers’ protein values. These protein values—taste, freshness, safety, price, nutrition, health, appearance, convenience, hormone and antibiotic-free, animal welfare, traceability and environmental impact—are measured monthly and ranked by the respondent’s priority on the MDM.

Nearly all Checkoff-funded efforts and initiatives address at least one of these protein values, and more often than not, more than one. The MDM allows the Checkoff to continue measuring the relative importance of each protein value.

Every month the MDM results are consistent – taste, freshness and safety are a top priority for consumers.

“Every month, across 2,000 people, these protein values show more importance than things like animal welfare and environmental impact,” Dr. Tonsor said. “That doesn’t mean those values don’t matter, but they’re not the core decision driver for meat demand. They matter secondary, but not primary.”

These insights prove the Beef Checkoff should continue to invest in efforts and initiatives that sustain or enhance the taste, freshness and safety of beef.

Supporting Ongoing Information

As an industry, it’s hard to forecast the future. Often, industry stakeholders look back after the fact and wish there would have been more data available to make better decisions.

“I wish I had one or more years of pre-COVID meat demand monitor data. If I had that, I’d have richer insights on the COVID shocks,” Dr. Tonsor said. “I still consider this a success, and I hope others consider this a success, but this shows we need to continue to support projects that give us ongoing data and information.”

The Beef Checkoff is proud to partner with USCA and Kansas State University on this research project to grow knowledge on consumer meat demand.

MDM reports, survey instruments and raw data are available here: https://www.agmanager.info/livestock-meat/meat-demand/monthly-meat-demand-monitor-survey-data

Frequently Asked Questions

When consumers think about veal, they likely think that fancy, Italian, white-tablecloth restaurants are the only places that serve veal nowadays. The Beef Checkoff is changing that narrative and promoting veal as a nutritious, delicious option for any consumer.

The Checkoff-funded National Veal Program, executed by the New York Beef Council and the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) developed a new brand and website to invite consumers to “Discover Delicious” in veal.

Veal – Discover Delicious, integrates the former vealmadeeasy.com and vealfarm.com platforms and was developed with veal stakeholders’ input. The website features upcoming events, blog articles and cooking school information. Veal producers and other industry stakeholders can use the site to see extensive consumer outreach efforts. This website also shows consumers where to buy veal online, in butcher shops or at grocery stores.

Along with this website launch, the brand has several other ongoing campaigns and events. Here’s a program snapshot:

Family Features Campaign Highlights Veal’s Versatility – This social media and digital-focused campaign with Culinary.net uses veal as a popular and trending recipe ingredient for families. One new recipe was a buffalo baked veal cutlet sandwich. To date, this campaign has 725 total placements across the country in print media, online and social media networks, totaling 68,183,494 impressions.

Veal Wins Big on Chicory Promotion – An important goal of veal’s outreach is to touch different and new consumers, making them aware of veal as a protein option and how it can fit into their weekly meal choices. One way this was accomplished was through a campaign with Chicory, a digital shopper marketing platform that turns recipes into a retail environment and reaches consumers through an online recipe network. Consumers had the opportunity to add veal directly to their virtual shopping carts with the click of a button. Beef Checkoff dollars invested in this campaign were doubled by contributions from other brand partners, such as Victoria’s Pasta Sauce. Brand partners were complementary to veal, allowing consumers to see veal in a cooked application. The overall campaign was then supported by the Florida and Wisconsin State Beef Councils. This campaign ran from mid-February to mid-March, and at the second performance report in early March, there were more than one million impressions and 2,531 veal orders were added to baskets.

Consumers Gather for the ‘Love of Veal’ – Nine consumers joined both in-person and virtually from around the nation to take part in a veal cooking experience with Chef Patrick Rae and a wine tasting with Laurie Forster. The class taught consumers how to make two veal recipes with a romantic theme for Valentine’s Day. There was a 45 percent increase in comfort level among the participants in cooking veal following this class. Overall, participants gave the class 4.5 stars. More consumer cooking classes are planned for the rest of the year.

“SO enjoyed your For the Love of Veal virtual cooking class last night! I appreciate you taking the time to ‘de-mystify’ beef industry practices regarding veal, and I followed along with Chef Patrick’s instructions to make veal marsala, green beans and fingerling potatoes.” – Participant feedback.

National Collegiate Veal Cooking Competition – State Beef Councils in Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, Arizona and Florida connected with their culinary institutes and students to extend the opportunity to be a part of the State and National Collegiate Cooking Competition. Students take the time to learn about veal production and then create a recipe of their own design for a consumer audience. One winner from each state will receive a scholarship prize and compete at the national level for additional scholarship money. There has been a 125 percent increase in State Beef Council participation in this program since 2019.

Frequently Asked Questions

Major metropolitan areas like New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. in the Northeast are home to 72 million residents. With so many consumers in one region, the Beef Checkoff actively promotes beef in these cities along the I-95 corridor.

Checkoff-funded promotion to grow consumer trust in beef is executed through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), a subcontractor to the Beef Checkoff. NEBPI extends nationally developed Beef Checkoff messaging in the country’s heavily populated Northeast region, where there are only three active State Beef Councils and only 3.8 percent of all Beef Checkoff dollars are collected.

This gap between limited Checkoff dollar resources and a growing population of consumers in the Northeast created a clear opportunity to channel nationally collected Checkoff dollars into this region. NEBPI began in 2004 when representatives from various State Beef Councils and industry organizations in the Northeast region discussed the opportunity to initiate a program specifically for that purpose. In the fall of 2005, an authorization request to fund and initiate the NEBPI program was presented and approved by the Beef Promotion Operating Committee. Sixteen years later, NEBPI has seven State Beef Council funding partners – Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, Kentucky, South Dakota, Montana and Delaware – helping to promote beef in the northeast.

Here’s how NEBPI reaches consumers:

  • Channel Influencer Outreach – NEBPI strives to be the go-to resource for all things beef on the menu and in the meat case for Northeast retail and foodservice partners. NEBPI builds relationships with culinary schools, retail professionals and e-commerce companies.
  • Consumer Outreach – NEBPI connects Northeast consumers with Checkoff messaging to remind them of beef’s flavor profile, convenience and nutrient-density, as well as the trustworthiness of U.S. cattlemen and women. This area’s key program is reaching and engaging with Northeast metropolitan consumers at in-person events and through digital campaigns.
  • Nutrition Influencer Outreach – NEBPI shares nutrition science with health professionals and educators to build confidence in beef. Key programs include building relationships with health professionals, hosting qualified speakers to communicate science principles and coordinating immersion events to promote beef nutrition messages.
  • These objectives execute specific initiatives that promote beef in the Northeast. Here are just a few of NEBPI’s recent and upcoming efforts:
  • American Culinary Federation ChefsForum Webinar Series – On May 6, NEBPI will connect and engage with foodservice professionals through the ACF ChefsForum. These professionals will learn about the latest consumer market research. Attendees’ knowledge and perception of beef will also be measured.
  • Extending Beef in the Early Years to Northeast Consumers – To ensure the latest nutrition information reached Northeast consumers, the NEBPI teamed up with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. to extend a YouTube video advertising campaign centered around Beef in the Early Years within the region. The campaign garnered nearly 700,000 video views of positive beef messages.
  • Bringing the Beef Lifecycle to Northeast Consumers – The Northeast Jr. Beef Ambassadors are showcasing the beef lifecycle through a series of virtual farm tours that will be leveraged to Northeast consumers on April 22, Earth Day, through the latest consumer workshop.
  • Beef Highlighted at Health and Fitness Expo – The latest information about beef’s nutritional benefits, beef recipes, an interactive cooking demonstration and more were shared during the 2021 NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo on March 19-20.
  • Reaching Maryland Physicians with Beef Nutritional Touchpoints – Through the use of virtual platforms, NEBPI engaged with Maryland Family Physicians during their winter meeting on February 27. NEBPI staff made meaningful connections, shared beef research and sent recipes and nutrition education materials for physicians and their patients.
  • Beef Teams Up with Culinary Chefs – NEBPI is partnering with the Culinary Nutrition Studio to support RDs and healthcare professionals learning to bridge the nutrition education gap. Partnerships with popular chefs helps change the conversation about discussing dietary protocols with clients.
  • AgriNutrition Webinar Series – Northeast nutrition communicators engaged with the Beef Checkoff through a three-part webinar series this fall with Marianne Smith Edge, MD, RDN, who provided understanding on sustainable food systems and consumer insights during the pandemic. The sessions had more than 280 views and NEBPI continues to see the positive feedback from the learnings.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Veal Summit is an opportunity for veal growers and industry stakeholders to gather to review program activities funded by the Beef Checkoff and provide feedback on future program plans. During the 2020 Veal Summit, veal growers, industry leaders and State Beef Councils prioritized initiatives and charted a renewed focus for veal. This input prioritized three strategies: Discovery of, Access to and Confidence in veal as a protein choice. The virtual meeting is an opportunity to hear how current programs are delivering on these priorities. The beef industry has also unveiled a new Long Range Plan, which is updated every five years, to help guide initiatives funded by the Beef Checkoff. Producer input is needed to help provide direction for veal program planning for the coming year. Register today and save the date to participate in the annual Veal Summit on April 21, 2021. The virtual session will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Frequently Asked Questions

Beef. It seems like the kind of commodity that would be simple, straightforward, easy to understand. Except…it’s not. The industry’s long history of organizational splits, reinventions, mergers and aliases — along with the fact that many association names sound similar — is enough to make anybody’s head spin. Even folks from other commodities agree that the beef world is complex, and so is its Checkoff.

For three-and-a-half decades the Beef Checkoff has existed to promote beef, but unless you are actively engaged in the program, you may not fully understand its management and oversight. Those duties are clearly assigned to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board (aka, Cattlemen’s Beef Board/CBB) by the Beef Promotion and Research Act. Even with completely separate boards, staffs and offices, two common misperceptions remain: the belief that the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) oversees the Checkoff — and that CBB and NCBA are one and the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.

BACKGROUND

The 1985 Farm Bill created the CBB to administer the Beef Checkoff program. Through the dollar-a-head assessment on the sale of all cattle and equivalent amount on imported beef and beef products, each year the CBB funds promotion, research and education proposals presented to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) by established, national, non-profit beef or cattle industry-governed organizations. Once a proposal is approved by the BPOC, the organization becomes a Checkoff “contractor” and conducts the work according to guidelines and program evaluations that ensure proposal objectives are met.

ANSWERING THE BIG QUESTION

By law, absolutely no Checkoff funds can be used for policy or lobbying efforts. That said, the Beef Checkoff’s largest contractor, NCBA, does have a policy division. So, how does that work? Through closely monitored processes and a “firewall” that keeps policy work and Checkoff-funded work separate.

As a trade association representing U.S. cattle producers, NCBA is like a coin with two sides. One side, the Policy Division, works to advance the political interests of its members. Any discussion of NCBA and policy is valid, but that’s NCBA’s Policy Division at play and has nothing to do with the CBB or Checkoff.

The other side of NCBA is qualified to contract with the BPOC to conduct Checkoff promotion, research and education work as an established, national, non-profit beef or cattle industry governed organization. To be clear, it is not the organization’s policy side that competes in this arena.

Just like any other Checkoff contractor, NCBA must adhere to all rules and processes, and its contract work is managed by the CBB. Each year, it must submit Authorization Requests (program proposals) that fully outline the project work it wants to do. It must file progress reports, quarterly oversight evaluations and regular reviews. It can only receive Checkoff dollars on a cost-recovery basis, which means it pays expenses up front and is only reimbursed after the CBB reviews invoices and documentation proving the money was spent appropriately and within the parameters of the Authorization Request. A dedicated compliance officer ensures all provisions of the Act and the Order are followed, that the “firewall” is maintained and that no Checkoff funds are used for policy or lobbying.

For the current fiscal year, the Beef Checkoff has nine contractors:

  • American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA)*
  • Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which manages the Producer Communications program
  • Foundation for Meat & Poultry Research and Education (FMPRE)
  • Meat Importers Council of America (MICA)
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)*
  • National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA)
  • North American Meat Institute (NAMI)*
  • U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA)*
  • U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF)

So, in a nutshell, the CBB oversees operation of the Beef Checkoff and its contractors, including NCBA. The “beef world” is definitely not uncomplicated, but each organization that does Beef Checkoff-funded work on behalf of producers has a unique area of expertise. In the end, it all contributes to a great big, coordinated effort to drive demand for beef.

*Denotes organization with separate policy division; however, no Beef Checkoff funds support policy or lobbying efforts

Frequently Asked Questions

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, aims to keep beef top of mind and on the plates of international consumers through Checkoff-funded programs. These programs are executed in different global markets – like Africa. In 2020, U.S. beef exports to Africa increased 25 percent, totaling $22.1 million. Due in part to successful Checkoff efforts, here’s how the beef market is booming in Africa.

Beef variety meats account for the bulk of beef exports to the region. South Africa specifically is the second-largest export destination for U.S. beef livers and was the largest buyer of U.S. beef kidneys in 2018 and 2019. USMEF’s regional representative in South Africa, Matt Copeland, joined the USMEF team in October 2019 and quickly hit the ground running with new efforts and initiatives.

He and USMEF are working in targeted markets in the region to build awareness and develop demand for specific products, and introduce buyers to beef’s quality attributes.

Through regional economic development, demand for higher-quality protein from the retail and hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sectors is expected to grow. Presently, USMEF’s market development focus is on South Africa, but the organization is actively assessing and developing opportunities in Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola, Ghana, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Morocco.

“There is tremendous upside for high-quality, grain-fed U.S. beef,” Copeland says.

Africa provides an inexpensive backgrounding environment for cattle, but feed inputs and production practices are focused on reducing costs. As a result, the end-product is very lean compared with highly marbled muscle cuts from the U.S. “Consumers have had very little exposure to high-quality beef,” he adds.

To deliver the high-quality protein consumers want, Copeland is working aggressively to expand the number of importers and distributors in the region who purchase U.S. beef. Also, Copeland is executing efforts to introduce beef to the retail and HRI sectors in South Africa. One of these efforts was a brochure outlining the quality attributes of beef liver in the Zulu language, and it was translated into French for use in Morocco. USMEF also plans to print the brochure in the Xhosa language as well.

To continue reaching importers and distributors in this emerging market, Copeland is building a digital library of major importers and producing promotional videos that encourage these importers to purchase beef. Another development tactic is the use of a concept kitchen in South Africa for cooking and tasting sessions. The kitchen allows Copeland to demonstrate the quality attributes of beef and directly introduce importers and distributors to retailers.

USMEF is executing efforts in South Africa to increase awareness and introduce beef to consumers in the retail sector. To support retailers during the pandemic, USMEF provided branded hand sanitizers on behalf of the U.S. beef industry to 60 stores, spreading positive beef messaging to potential beef customers. Also, USMEF conducted retail promotions and executed advertising on delivery trucks in Johannesburg.

One thing is for sure – the pandemic has accelerated the implementation of digital solutions around the world. Like Africa, new channels are appearing for beef in emerging markets, and USMEF’s global, in-person infrastructure will continue identifying and assessing these opportunities to drive demand for beef.