From staff reports Greg Hanes, chief executive officer of the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion Board, recently outlined the domestic strategy for building U.S. beef demand among consumers.
Herd liquidation over the years has produced a tighter beef supply, harming the international and domestic beef markets. Hanes is looking to encourage U.S. consumers to add beef into their meal plans.
“I think now there are probably more options here for the consumers in the U.S. just with ground beef and other items we have available that are not as expensive as your traditional meal meats,” Hanes said. “There has been a lot of educational work on those, like showing how to prepare all of these dishes, how to buy it, cook it, and all of that.”
Hanes emphasized that building beef demand has been going on for decades, ensuring the sustainability of the beef industry and the continuous supply of consumer demanded protein.
“Now, with these kinds of conditions we are facing, you really see that impact and the benefits of what the Checkoff has been able to do,” Hanes said. “We are at 30-year highs for beef demand, and retail prices are at record highs, but people are still paying that, and that really shows that they want to eat beef compared to all these other proteins, and that has taken years and years to ensure people are getting that protein they want- and it is beef.”
Hanes said that today’s beef demand is proof of the Beef Checkoff programs success. The program will be contracting a return-on-investment study Hanes said, and the results will be announced at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Summer meeting in San Diego, California.
“Thirty-year highs on demand are pretty impressive,” Hanes said.