Beating them at their own game

We hear it in beef cattle meetings all the time: What are we going to do about the chicken nugget?

But it’s not just the nugget. You could easily substitute rotisserie chicken, sausage biscuits and a lot of other non-beef ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat items for the searching question.

Erin Mohler, CAB marketing specialist who works with our value-added products team in the Wooster office, wants you to know the answer to that question is, “plenty.”

The department, which is charged with keeping up with current trends and developing CAB products that will fit those trends, is busy these days.

There are the new lines of marinated value-added cuts, fully cooked heat-and-serve entrees — even specialty items for the freezer case. Erin says some of the current favorites include jalapeno lime and beer skirt steak, a bacon and cheddar burger, and a beef wellington.
“We are trying to keep up with today’s trends of supplying consumers and customers with high-quality products that are easy to prepare and still have that great beef-eating experience,” she says.
It’s a never-ending cycle. Right now, the value-added products team is working with the Beef Innovations Group (a research arm of the Beef Checkoff) to make sure beef stays in the center of the plate, despite consumers’ ever-changing needs and wants.
So what’s ahead? One day soon you just might see microwaveable ground beef (it cooks, browns and drains in the bag!), a microwaveable tri-tip, meal starter kits, beef and marinade kits, and crispy breakfast strips in your grocer’s offering.

 

But what does all this mean to you, especially if you get your beef out of the freezer instead of the supermarket meat case? It’s all about increasing demand for the high-quality beef you strive to produce. It’s about reaching the chicken nugget crowd with a (far) superior product. And that’s something we can all get behind.

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