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Texas Agriculture Archive

October 17, 2003

-A Year of Texas
Beef Checkoff Activities-

Texas beef producers in 2003 enjoyed 12 months of fast-paced and comprehensive beef checkoff activities.

From Oct. 1, 2002, to Sept. 30, 2003, the Texas Beef Council's fiscal year, all promotion, education and research activities focused on moving more beef product through the system. The thrust of TBC's programs was on creating new demand for an array of new beef products just hitting the market. These new products will allow beef producers to compete effectively with other protein sources in both Texas foodservice and retail.

Through multiple messages that included convenience and nutrition, Texas consumers learned how these new beef checkoff-developed products could impact their consumption habits.

Other checkoff programs helped keep Texas beef producers abreast of the changes in their industry, looked ahead to future innovations needed to keep beef competitive, and helped develop overseas markets for U.S. beef.

The following summary provides some of the highlights of this past year for the Texas beef checkoff program. For more information on these projects, contact TBC at 1-800-846-4113.

• Value-Added Beef Products: Checkoff funded research has created a new generation of beef products that provides value to consumers by turning underutilized cuts into highly consistent, tender beef products. Two examples of these cuts are the Flat Iron Steak and the Beef Shoulder Tender Roast, both developed from the chuck.

TBC began promoting the cuts in October 2002 by educating Texas foodservice distribution companies about their unique qualities. Distributors are key to a new beef cut's success since they supply products directly to chefs and restaurant operators. Demand from these distributors resulted in several Texas beef processing companies beginning production of the new cuts.

By early February, Humperdink's Restaurant in North Texas launched a Flat Iron promotion in partnership with the beef checkoff program. The successful promotion encouraged the restaurant to keep the Flat Iron on its menu permanently.

In early spring, TBC introduced the cut to dozens of leading chefs at the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival. Several more restaurants put it on their permanent menus.

Then last summer, TBC introduced the Shoulder Tender to equally great response. As Chef James Neel of Trumontana's Restaurant in Dallas said: "It's rare that something tastes better than it costs. But that describes the Shoulder Tender."

Both these cuts are becoming menu mainstays in Texas, especially with new food items like sandwiches and salads that had previously been the domain of chicken. These new products are providing Texas beef producers with valuable new markets for their products.

• Texas Checkoff's TV Presence: TBC took beef recipes and cooking tips straight to consumers by appearing on 54 morning and noon television news programs in top Texas TV markets including Houston, Dallas and San Antonio during the past year. TBC's television appearances promoted beef roasts and beef appetizers during the holiday season, beef crockpot recipes during the winter, and new beef grilling ideas for the spring and summer. Millions of viewers saw TBC spokesperson Lucinda Rogers demonstrate delicious and easy beef recipes. Viewers were directed to the Texas beef checkoff's web site, www.txbeef.org for recipes, cooking information and more.

• Beef's Nutrition Advantage: The Texas checkoff continues to be a vital resource for Texas health professionals. Part of the reason is that the checkoff's science-based facts about nutrition and diet are well-respected by doctors, nurse practitioners and dietitians.

One of the year's highlights was release of the checkoff-funded moderate protein diet. It showed that persons who consume a diet that includes a lean protein like beef about seven times a week can lose weight and lower their cholesterol levels.

TBC helped provide this research plus beef's volume of other nutrition information to thousands of Texas health professionals and consumers through a variety of events.

These included meetings with Central Texas Dietetic Association's seminar on childhood obesity in Waco, the Paso Del Norte Food and Nutrition Conference in El Paso, the Promoting Healthy Weight Conference in Austin, the Texas Dietetic Association's annual meeting in Houston, the Texas Medical Association's annual convention and the Texas Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation annual meeting in Dallas, and Speaking of Women's Health in Dallas.

TBC in late 2003 also hosted a series of town hall meetings with members of the Texas Dietetic Association to create a strategic information plan to get beef checkoff information to this health professional group.

• Direct Consumer Contact: Hundreds of thousands of Texas consumers sampled new beef products, took home beef nutrition information, and learned new beef recipe ideas by visiting the TBC exhibit at consumer events throughout Texas.

At events like the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, the Houston Livestock Show, Mayfest in Fort Worth and Arbor Days in Euless, the Texas beef checkoff extended its information directly to beef's end users. Showcased products included fresh beef as well as fully cooked, heat-and-serve beef products.

At each event, consumers were also directed to www.txbeef.org for access to beef information 24 hours every day. Many beef companies partnered with TBC in these promotions and provided beef coupons to help spur beef sales.

• Texas Youth Programs: TBC works to build better understanding of beef's nutrition among Texas youths through its participation in Texas Ag Fairs. Many of these Ag Fairs are also made possible through the assistance of Texas Farm Bureau County Committees.