'Beefing Up' the Connection with our Community

Ontario Beef is Beef Farmers of Ontario’s (BFO) consumer engagement program that supports all Ontario beef industry stakeholders by laying the foundation for the promotion of ALL Ontario beef products and the entire industry. Our focus is entirely on Ontario consumers and our efforts support the Ontario Beef Market Development Program, as well as individual farmers, brands, retailers, butcher shops, etc.

Since the launch of the re-brand in 2019, our efforts have been on introducing Ontarians to Ontario beef, it’s delicious versatility as a high-quality protein and the hardworking farmers who raise the cattle and steward the land. Fortunately, the vast majority of our strategy was designed to be carried out digitally, which has served us well throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We kept our plans focused online and were able to really engage with our community.

We have found success using a “simmer and boil” approach for a lot of our work. We have a continual stream of content and activity happening during the year (simmering), and a couple of times throughout the year, we ramp everything up to a boil to execute large-scale campaigns. Our campaigns include a mixture of influencer and partner collaboration, community engagement initiatives, and a blend of paid and organic social media. Our inaugural campaign – the Ontario Beef Burger Battle hosted by the ever-dynamic Andrew Gunadie (@Gunnarolla) – held in the summer of 2020 was a huge hit setting the tone for subsequent campaigns and earning the gold at the Influencer Marketing Awards this past summer.

Central to the Ontario Beef strategy is our new public facing website – ontbeef.ca. Traffic to the website continues to increase steadily as we continue to focus on driving traffic to different areas of the site through our social campaigns. The new site includes a store locator feature, which is one of the most popular stops for visitors to the website. With about 150 retailers listed on the locator currently, we recognize there are still many others who may wish to be included in the listings. The store locator opportunity is available to all butchers, retailers and farmers marketing direct so long as they carry Ontario beef products as an option for their customers. For more information on how to be added to the locator, contact the BFO office.

Unlike some of the other commodity groups, Ontario Beef has not yet gone down the path of logo usage directly on product (ex. Stickers), which would require infrastructure and oversight that we don’t currently have the capacity to handle. That said, we have produced a number of promotional items and resources, many of which are well-suited for retail settings and events. These materials promote the idea that local Ontario beef is an option and what makes Ontario beef great, share tips for selecting and preparing cuts, and include a call to action that is typically a variation of “Ask for Ontario Beef.” Anyone interested in Ontario Beef materials for use at retail is encouraged to contact the BFO office.

While the past two years have been challenging for folks across the globe, our Ontario Beef consumer engagement program has thrived on social media and we are building an engaged community of Ontario beef enthusiasts. We look forward to carrying the same positive energy into 2022 with exciting new plans and continuing to build our fanbase. Be sure to follow Ontario Beef on social media, visit our website, and connect with the office if you would like materials to help promote the fabulous Ontario beef options you have on offer.

Beef Farmers of Ontario