Alternative Beef Marketing

1. Alternative Beef Marketing C. Chad Carr University of Florida

2. Value-Added

3. Producer Options • Retain Ownership • Sell into a Natural program or other Process Verified Program OR • Start your own program

4. Retained Ownership

5. Source Verification

6. Consumers’ Quality Categories (Andersen, 2000) • Consumption Quality • Nutritional Quality • Technological Quality • Hygienic Quality • Ethical Quality

7. The Quality of a Product Establishes Customer Loyalty • Do you get a mental picture of quality beef?

8. What is Quality? • Consumption Quality • Ethical Quality • Hygienic Quality • Technological Quality • Nutritional Quality

9. Consumers’ Quality Categories (Andersen, 2000) Ethical Quality • Beef cattle welfare • Production environment (outdoor production) • Natural/ Organicfarming • Religion

10. Quality: Perception is Reality • Identification of a customer willing to pay for these definitions of quality constitutes a value-added opportunity for the beef production chain

11. Quality: Perception is Reality • Identification of a customer willing to pay for these definitions of quality constitutes a value-added opportunity for the beef production chain

12. Quality: Perception is Reality • Identification of a customer willing to pay for these definitions of quality constitutes a value-added opportunity for the beef production chain • 2 general ways • Superior or unique product quality • Breed Specific • Social or credence attributes • Production Methods

13. BEEF Specialty & improved

14. VS. Naturally- Raised VS. Grass- Fed

15. 2001 Certification Regulations • Can only be fed “Certified Organic” feedstuffs • No growth promotants, antibiotics, or dewormer • Cattle must have access to pasture

16. 2007- Preliminary USDA Standard • No growth promotants, antibiotics, or animal by-products --- However--- • Dewormer and probiotics are allowed • No restriction on CAFOS

17. Grass- Fed 2007- Final USDA Standard Post-weaning ruminants- • Only forage from pasture or harvested forage • Continuous access to pasture during the growing season • Any grain consumption must be documented explicitly

18. Commodity vs. Specialty • No evidence that specialty meat products (Organic or Naturally-Raised) are safer or more nutritious than commodity meat products (Honikel, 1998) • No USDA claims

19. Antibiotics and Pesticides • Human health is not affected by antimicrobials in livestock production • No proof of human antibiotic resistance • USDA Pesticide Monitoring Program- • All commodities (< 1% above tolerance) • Meat generally has fewest above tolerance SOURCE: G.C. Smith et al. (2006) Conventional, Natural, Grass-Fed & Organic Beef.

20. Grain-Fed vs. Grass-Fed • Grass-fed is: • Leaner • Less saturated fat and cholesterol (Hedrick et al., 1983) • More “off-flavors” • Tends to be tougher & less juicy (Regan et al., 1977; Hedrick et al., 1983; Crouse et al., 1984) Than Grain-fed

21. Nationally Distributed

22. Nationally Distributed

23. Nationally Distributed

24. Nationally Distributed

25. Nationally Distributed

26. Nationally Distributed

27. Starting a Niche Meat Program • Determining the target audience • Product quality relative to the demographics of the target audience

28. Starting a Niche Meat Program • Assessing the product’s point of differentiation

29. Starting a Niche Meat Program • Determining a contract packer

30. Starting a Niche Meat Program • Cost Analysis

31. Quality: Perception is Reality

32. Quality: Perception is Reality

33. Quality: Perception is Reality

34. Value-Added