The beef industry has declared chicken public enemy number one with a vow to use advertising that puts the bird on the run.
The Beef Information Centre celebrates 25 years of operation but the industry has not changed where it counts – getting people to eat more steaks. In fact, beef consumption has dropped to about 49 pounds per person each year, while more chicken is eaten every year.
Centre board members believe more advertising is the answer. But a major hurdle is finding the money.
“Spending two-tenths of one percent of the value of the finished animal won’t do the job. Advertising to 50 percent of the people 15 weeks of the year doesn’t cut it,” said Marvin Molzan, a cattle producer and board member for the Beef Information Centre.
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“We have to be in the consumers’ face 365 days of the year,” he told the annual Alberta Cattle Commission meeting in Calgary.
Past television campaigns have fallen short of expectations so the centre hired a new agency called BBDO Canada.
Market tests have told them beef sales improve with television ads but it is a hard sell for producers who are paying the bill.
Alberta already contributes 75 percent of its checkoff money to beef promotion at the provincial and national level. As the largest contributor in the country, the cattle commission budgeted $3.7 million for the Beef Information Centre for 1998-99.
Still, Canadian beef promotion money lags other countries.
The Australian beef industry spent $17 million to promote its product to 17 million people and New Zealand spent $6 million on four million people last year, said Molzan.
There have been some improvements however, such as the changes where cuts are identified by cooking style. Surveys tell the information centre that three-quarters of consumers like this new system adopted by about 75 percent of retail outlets in Canada in the last year.
Overall sales improved and it has reduced some losses for retailers because people are trying cuts they avoided before because they weren’t sure how to cook them.
“The percentage of sales of ground beef has declined and the increase of steaks and roasts has increased significantly,” said Glenn Brand of BIC.
In the past some of these pricier cuts ended up being ground into hamburger because they weren’t sold, said Brand.
This change resulted in a 3.6 percent increase in amount of beef sold or the equivalent of $2.4 million worth of beef.
Another improvement is products.
The national beef industry development fund has helped create products.
Working with companies like Nestle’s and Pillsbury, the Beef Information Centre has convinced them to include beef in their frozen food and meal packages.
AC Nielsen data showed this venture created an 88 percent increase in the sale of beef strips, said Kathy Keeler of the Beef Information Centre
Another program enjoying success in the Muslim community happened when MGI Beef in Ontario put together halal beef packages, slaughtered as prescribed under Islamic law. These are sold in 20 retail chains in the United States and use 41,000 kilograms of beef a week.
A deal is also in the works with Taco Time to introduce julienne beef for fajitas. This is meat cut into fine, small strips.
