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BEEF CHECKOFF NEWS Strategies Adapting to Driving Demand
By Samantha Riley, Director of Education and Marketing While the last several weeks have been anything but normal the Checkoff has still been hard at work educating consumers about the protein powerhouse that is beef. Consumers perceptions and behaviors about beef are as strong as they’ve ever been. Restaurants are focusing more on “To Go” menus, free delivery and family style meals. When consumers aren’t ordering food curbside, they’re focusing on ground beef recipes, comfort foods, including meatloaf, pasta and slow cooker recipes, and healthy recipes. Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. expanded their target demographic to reach more consumers, created new batch cooking, pantry staples and kid-friendly articles to share with consumers and added in heavy rotations of Nicely Done, Beef. ‘Sizzle” videos and Beef 101 videos on social platforms, focusing on preparing beef at home. Since launching these new initiatives, they have received 5 million video views (as of April 7th) and there has been a 51% increase in recipe-related page views on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com (as of April 7th).
MAY 2020
The Missouri Beef Industry Council is ready, willing and responsive to the situation at hand. Missouri Beef Industry Council staff have been hard at work at adapting and responding to the situation and continuing to stay flexible to changes. Many steps have been taken on the state level, much like the national level, to reach more consumers and producers alike to move the
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message that beef is important in the diet, sharing at home recipes and educational resources. Now, more than ever, digital marketing has played a huge role in reaching those we cannot see in person. Digital Marketing From mid-March to mid-April, MBIC reached more than 56,000 people and had more than 102,000 impressions across all social platforms. Our digital tactics have changed, focusing more on beef preparation, beef safety and preparing easy, fast and simple meals at home with staples consumers have in their pantries. Providing educational materials has also been a priority for adults and kids alike, featuring activities, coloring pages, and educational games to do together as a family on mobeef.org. MBIC has added a page for consumers to visit to find producers selling beef, provided by Missouri Cattlemen’s Association and Missouri Grown, as consumer interests have changed from solely purchasing from the grocery store. Development of cooking videos started in midMarch, including a Kids in the Kitchen and KidFriendly Meals, and Batch Cooking for the at home chef. MBIC has also been sending out weekly emails including recipes, beef preparation tips and resources. If you would like to sign up for Checkoff updates via email or postal mail contact Samantha Riley at samantha@ mobeef.com. Consumer Affairs Consumer affairs efforts continue to move forward as well. While some events have been postponed, others have adapted to the situation. The Missouri Association of Nutrition and Dietetics (MOAND) made the decision to turn their annual conference into a virtual event via webinar. MBIC sponsored the keynote speaker and a panel. Cara Harbstreet MS RD LD, Street Smart Nutrition, was the keynote speaker, focusing on Rethinking Health: Building Sustainable Plates with Beef.
