Agricultural News
Consumer Priorities Can Change, But These 3 Things Never Fall Off the List - Taste, Flavor, Juiciness
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 10:18:42 CDT
Mark McCully is vice president of production for Certified Angus Beef, arguably the gold standard when it comes to branded beef programs. However, he admits at one time, there was some discussion about whether or not to lower the brand's standards enough in order to get more cattle into the CAB program and meet consumers' growing demand for the product. In the end though, he says the decision was made to stay the course and looking at how things turned out today - it has paid off.
"There was a time in our shop when we continued to see a little bit of a trend downward and we were having that discussion of at some point, do we need to lower the standards to get more supply? That's not the conversation we're having today," McCully said. "In fact, there's been such a great response - we're having discussions on how to tighten up some of the consistency specs in our product to make it an even better premium experience to the end user."
Even since that critical decision was made though, the consumer has continued to evolve and over time has changed. Today, consumers are seeking more information about their food, wanting to know how it was produced, where it came from, etc. McCully says this is of course something that CAB takes seriously and assumes responsibility for when marketing to their consumer base. However, he says key to the brand's success still stands on its foundation and can not be divorced from it.
"We can call it 'beef- with adjectives.' We definitely see this. All these things we can put on these programs- The one thing we consistently hear though, is that the consumer is not willing to back up on taste, flavor and juiciness. They still want those things," he said. "We have to keep the foundation of this great thing we've created. But now we have to add those additional assurances - all things we know are truly happening and so we take on a little more responsibility to help communicate that story and continue to elevate that trust and assure the consumer that product, those cattle, were handled in an way that aligns with their values."
Listen to McCully speak about consumer priorities and how CAB works to meet those, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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