Covid 19 Response

Winter 2021  |  Program Adjustments

Texas Beef Council (TBC) is aware of the current market conditions and is adjusting the short-term strategic direction of programs. The Beef Checkoff is designed to build demand for beef products, and TBC will continue to proactively and efficiently invest checkoff dollars to promote beef to consumers while the world deals with the novel coronavirus.  

We are evaluating real-time digital insights and analytics about consumer behavior and trends to efficiently and effectively adjust TBC programs to meet consumer needs and successfully continue to inspire beef meals. Below is a summary of program changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beef Loving Texans Advertising & Content

  • The ‘All Plates of Life’ advertising campaign is still being implemented as planned through programmatic digital, social media, streaming radio, and streaming TV. 
  • Paid and social communication for Beef Loving Texans (BLT) focuses on timely and seasonal topics like cooking at home, , ground beef, air fryer recipes, and Chief Recipe Officer recipe videos. 
  • Beef Loving Texans’ named former NFL star and celebrity chef TV personality Eddie Jackson as Chief Recipe Officer. Eddie has developed delicious beef recipes for the brand and has created recipe videos and social content to engage with consumers online while trends still support increased time online and cooking at home.  
  • In order to continue to create high-quality content that can be promoted across digital channels, TBC has extended partnerships with social influencers to create videos, recipes, blogs, and social posts that highlight beef as a preferred protein.  
  • Because TV stations have closed their newsrooms, we've created virtual cooking segments from the homes of our spokespeople with recipes with few, simple ingredients and those focused on seasonal favorites. Eddie Jackson has also conducted several virtual media interviews discussing his role with Beef Loving Texans and beef recipes and cooking tips.

Nutrition & Health

  • Staff continues to bring evidence-based information about beef in a healthy diet to health professionals through virtual presentations and sponsorship of conferences held by respected organizations. Throughout the months of September through December, TBC participated in medical and nutrition-focused conferences with a potential reach of over 2,100 total health professionals and educators. These virtual events included the Texas Nurse Practitioners Annual Conference, Texas Academy of Family Physicians Annual Session and Primary Care Summit, Southwestern Athletic Trainers’ Association Annual Conference, and Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Symposium.
  • TBC is currently developing a new section of the Beef Loving Texans website that will be a one-stop-shop for health professionals. Virtual education opportunities approved for continuing education credit and beef-positive patient education materials will be front and center on the new landing page. The Raw Truth About Beef program and Beef Loving RD Twitter account will also be easily accessible, along with a call to action for health professionals to connect with TBC by signing up for quarterly newsletters or emailing the Nutrition Team directly. 
  •  TBC is updating the Fuel your Fun webpage to target those who are health and nutrition educators, PE teachers, athletic trainers and coaches, to confidently teach nutrition that includes beef as part of the balanced plate. The website will encompass all resources including complimentary posters, handouts, games, videos and newly developed MyPlate curriculum.
  • The Raw Truth About Beef, an online immersion experience, has provided staff the opportunity to share the beef production story with Registered Dietitians, dietetic interns, and many others during a time when in-person tours and events are limited.
  • Social media has been leveraged to bring nutrition professionals together in a fun and interactive way around beef in a healthy diet. 
  • Staff continues to think of creative ways to safely engage the Texas Beef Team by offering socially distanced or virtual opportunities that promote beef. The team will be representing Beef Loving Texans in the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge. Taking place January 4 – February 28, the Community Challenge is a statewide competition inspiring people, organizations, and cities across Texas to choose healthy activities in support of a healthier community.

Retail

  • Staff continues to engage with retail partners to provide resources and share BLT content.  
  • Participate in a number of virtual conferences such as the Annual Meat Conference which brings together over 1000 meat industry professionals each year.
  • Planning continues with consumer package good partners for the implementation of in-store promotion programs expected to begin in April and continue thru the summer.

Foodservice

  • The brand new Beef Loving Chefs Podcast has completed season 1 with great success. A total of ten episodes were in season 1 with a wide range of interviews from Chef Morris Salerno of Bistecca Italian Steakhouse in Lewisville to Dr. Jason Cleare of AgriLife Extension and Texas A&M to Dr. Emily Knight the CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association. The BLC podcast has given a platform to Chefs and Restaurant Professionals to tell their stories with Beef bringing them to the microphone. 
  • Beef Loving Chefs brand continues to develop chef-driven Beef video content for use on BLC social channels including YouTube and Instagram. The latest video for the holidays was a “Baking with Tallow” video with award-winning pastry Chef Michele Brown of Waco Texas. New chef videos are being developed for launch in January, February and March.
  • Staff continues to promote the Raw Truth About Beef online immersion experiences for chefs to learn about beef production. Promotion and distribution of Raw Truth materials for culinary teachers, ag teachers, and dietetic internship coordinators will continue throughout Texas and the nation as distance learning increases.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) International Programs

  • USMEF, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, works with countries worldwide to increase U.S. beef exports, and they are accustomed to the constant change in the international marketplace. The team is adjusting its messaging accordingly as the situation differs from country to country. The team has seen shifts in demand from foodservice to retail and delivery in Asia but also sees foodservice demand slowly rebounding. They continue to emphasize the integrity of U.S. beef and the reliability of the U.S. as a trading partner. Although some key international events have been canceled, USMEF’s 19 worldwide offices are conducting events as allowed in their respective countries, and if that changes, will switch to online/webinar-based conversations.

For national checkoff program updates from Cattlemen's Beef Board visit: https://www.beefboard.org/2020/07/02/current-programming-updates/ 

For more Beef Checkoff information, contact the Texas Beef Council at beef@txbeef.org or call 1-800-846-4113. To see how we're connecting with consumers, visit us at BeefLovingTexans.com.