The Angus Journal is a monthly magazine known for in-depth coverage of American Angus Association programs and services; the Angus business; herd management techniques; and advertising reflecting genetics herd philosophies.
Issue link: http://angusjournal.epubxp.com/i/435083
S am's Club, Metropolitan Cooking Shows, college campuses for fall football games — these are all places where you'll fnd a whole lot of hungry consumers. This past year, you could also fnd volunteer members of the American National CattleWomen Inc. (ANCW) eager to talk about beef at these locations. With support from beef checkoff funds in 2014, ANCW volunteers were involved with beef promotion events at 202 Sam's Club stores nationwide; at Metropolitan Cooking Shows in Charlotte, N.C., and Orlando, Fla.; and on fve college campuses. The events were deemed a huge success in the modern-day effort to continue connecting consumers with real faces from the beef industry. "CattleWomen have a long history of battling myths about the beef industry and being 'boots-on-the-ground' promoters of beef recipes and products to consumers. Their efforts are effective because CattleWomen are relatable to other consumers, many of whom are women and moms who are also raising families," points out Sarah Bohnenkamp, former ANCW executive director. Info increases sales Desta Crawford, an ANCW member from Hereford, Texas, who serves as Region IV director for the organization, had the opportunity to see frsthand the successful outreach between CattleWomen and consumers. Crawford coordinated ANCW volunteers across the country for the Sam's Club store promotions that were hosted throughout the summer. Some drove as far as 300 miles to be at a store event. She explains that a contractor was hired to cook and serve beef tenderloin and sirloin strip samples in the store while CattleWomen were on hand to talk to consumers about beef — listening to concerns, answering questions and sharing recipes. "Our CattleWomen volunteers had very positive feedback from consumers. It was evident that people like beef, they just want to get more information about it." Crawford and Bohnenkamp also report that those face-to-face conversations translated into more beef sales in Sam's Club stores on the weekends when CattleWomen were promoting beef within the stores. "Receipts showed a 23% increase in beef sales at the Sam's Club stores over the previous year on the same weekends," Crawford reports. She adds that with the increase in beef prices during the past year, that was a signifcant jump in sales and an indication that sharing information with people about beef can truly help drive sales. Teaching kitchen skills ANCW members had another opportunity to meet consumers face-to-face to talk about beef at two Metropolitan Cooking Shows — one in Charlotte, N.C., in September and the other in Orlando, Fla., in October. All total, about 40,000 consumers attended the two events. Beef was featured in cooking demonstrations on stage, as well as at a beef booth where samples were handed out and quick kitchen skills were taught by ANCW volunteers. "We showed consumers how to use a meat thermometer and talked about degrees of doneness for cooking beef. We also demonstrated how to cut beef against the grain," Crawford explains. "Both of these skills are important to get the best beef eating experience." Another skill that consumers were eager to learn was wrapping beef for the freezer. "Many people were shocked that they shouldn't just freeze beef in the Styrofoam and plastic wrap. We showed them how to use freezer wrap to ensure they have a high- quality beef product if they decide to freeze it. We also talked about the option to buy larger quantities of beef on sale and then wrap it for the freezer." Of these efforts, Bohnenkamp adds, "Our goal is to help consumers have these skills so they can be happy with choosing beef, investing in it and having the best eating experience. Consumers also enjoy meeting real beef producers." In exit surveys asking participants to recall important beef messages learned at the booth, 80% of consumer participants could remember key facts such as how to identify lean beef in the meatcase, how long ground 35 Keys to Success Industry Involvement & Networking Additional ANCW beef promotion efforts Utilizing social media is another important tool the beef checkoff and American National CattleWomen Inc. (ANCW) are tapping to connect with consumers on the topic of beef. Former ANCW Executive Director Sarah Bohnenkamp explains that "Twitter parties" that share beef information have been popular for several years. More recently, ANCW has added Pinterest and Instagram, which are primarily photo pages, to engage with consumers — especially tech-savvy millennials — on beef. Examples of popular ANCW Instagram efforts include hosting a "beef selfe contest" in which consumers submit a photo enjoying a beef meal in exchange for being eligible to win beef prizes. A similar contest included submitting a photo of a favorite beef cut at a local grocery store. On Pinterest, beef recipe contests — for slow cookers, lean beef, fve ingredients or less, etc. — have been popular. "We are able to share great beef content, but also bring great content in from real consumers who enjoy beef," Bohnenkamp notes. "The biggest users on social media are females and moms, so we are reaching our target audience." Bohnenkamp says ANCW, on behalf of the beef checkoff, has also hosted online discussions with mommy bloggers and consumers and participation has been phenomenal. "The feedback we get is tremendously positive," she adds. "On average, 75% to 80% of participants indicate they feel better about their knowledge of beef." ANCW has also focused on integrating social-media efforts into the annual Beef Ambassador student competition that is hosted each October. Bohnenkamp explains that face-to-face classroom presentations are still part of the contest requirements, but student contestants are also encouraged to promote beef through social media efforts. Plus, the fve students selected to serve on the National Beef Ambassador team are required to blog once a week during their yearlong term. Join their social media conversations @beefpros and @beefambassador. CONTINUED ON PAGE 84 January 2015 n ANGUSJournal n 83