COUNCIL COMMUNICATOR

by Jesse Larios, 2020 Chair of the California Beef Council

When I began my term as chair of the California Beef Council at the beginning of the year, there was a lot of optimism and excitement for the plans we had in place for 2020. We had multiple events planned to showcase the beef industry and share the production story with key influencers and audiences, campaigns to promote and tie-in the beef eating experience with key holidays and events throughout the year, in-person producer education events and presentations to share our efforts with the producer community and so much more.

And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it was back to the drawing board in many ways. Like every other organization in this unprecedented time, we had to teach ourselves to adapt in a unique situation. Staff began working remotely, events got cancelled left and right and the dynamic shifted for our previously planned campaigns. There was no blue print for how to navigate this new chapter, but we pivoted and met the challenge.

Early on, we quickly shifted our consumer approach to reach our audiences with messages reassuring them about beef supply as grocery store shelves were cleared and fear over availability of key food items ensued. With a deep set of resources covering all things beef – from preparing and cooking, to understanding nutrition, to classroom lesson plans about beef and cattle – the CBC was also able to provide consumers with helpful tools to navigate a return to the kitchen for many home cooks, and a rapid turn to educating school children at home. Our website home page became a hub for these items and more, and a digital campaign promoting these resources was deployed within days of the pandemic taking hold.

In my time serving on the California Beef Council, I have seen significant shifts in how and where we get our message across, making sure we’re meeting the consumer where they are with messages that resonate, and in a fiscally responsible manner. Because many of our campaigns have shifted to more of a digital and targeted approach in recent years, including the use of geo-fencing technology to target our ads to very specific areas, the CBC team was able to work quickly and deftly to deploy this digital campaign at almost a moment’s notice.

During the spring of 2020, I was impressed with how the CBC staff was able to turn on a dime to shift strategy and focus and still resonate with our consumers based on what was going on in the world at the time. The behindthe-scenes work done to ensure our industry not only continued to be represented in a positive light, but to also serve as a resource in a difficult time to the people who buy our product is something we should all be proud of as checkoff investors.

A previously scheduled spring campaign centered around the Cinco de Mayo holiday was cancelled once we realized the full impact of the pandemic and current consumer sentiment. But that didn’t mean our efforts ended there. In early summer, we joined with the national Beef Checkoff program to launch the “United We Steak” campaign – a broad, multi-faceted effort to unite Americans and consumers around the shared experience of grilling steaks, as well as highlight California producers and the beef supply chain. From there, we launched a second campaign as a very non-traditional football season started. Originally planned to focus on the experience of tailgating, our campaign shifted to focus on the “home-gating” experience and enjoying the big games at home. Combined, these campaigns reached and engaged tens of millions of California consumers, and both provided cash-back rebate offers on beef during a time when many were struggling economically. In a year of trepidation and difficulty, the CBC was also able to move forward on other key

PIVOTING IN A CRISIS In the aftermath of COVID-19, the CBC stepped up to show our beef producers’ continued commitment to providing a great product and offer reassurances about the availability of beef in a tumultuous market. CBC programming pivoted to share resources for preparing beef at home as millions returned to the kitchen, and beef-focused educational tools for distance learning.

United We Steak (UWS), a joint campaign between national and state Beef Checkofffunded organizations, surpassed 350 million impressions nationally and 12 million impressions statewide. UWS highlighted the shared tradition of grilling steaks over the summer and the people behind the beef, with a CBC-specific campaign that featured additional advertising, offers for cash-back rebates on beef products, a sweepstakes to win a Traeger grill, and more.

The California Beef Directory was launched, providing California shoppers with a guide for purchasing beef locally. Available at CalBeef.org, the directory is an easy-to-use resource for those interested in purchasing beef directly from California’s ranchers. Producers interested in being added can submit their information on the website.

FOCUSING ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH The CBC shared positive beef nutrition messaging through quarterly e-blasts sent to over 8,000 health and nutrition professionals, and a virtual seminar on beef in early childhood, viewed by over 550 health influencers.

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RESOURCE Throughout 2020, the CBC responded to multiple media inquiries and provided talking points, fact sheets, brochures and other resources to producer, agricultural, and community groups, including beef-focused educational materials to students and teachers during the pandemic. PARTNERING WITH

FOODSERVICE BEEFoodservice – a new, improved mobile app for foodservice professionals – was launched, providing those in the foodservice industry with a free, downloadable resource featuring beef-related training and educational resources.

A series of native advertising stories were launched to help enlighten consumers and shift perceptions about how cattle are raised, introduce the people who produce beef in California, and use storytelling to address myths. Funded in part by the California Cattle Council, these stories were placed on popular news websites that consumers visit often, allowing positive beef information to reach millions.

To learn more about the CBC’s work, visit https://www.calbeef.org/beef-producers where you can view our previous producer webinars, sign up for our e-newsletter, and more.

positive efforts. Over the summer, we filled the position of our Director of Food and Nutrition Outreach, welcoming Kori Dover to the team. Kori has hit the ground running to elevate beef nutrition messaging and education with key health and nutrition audiences in California.

We also announced a major overhaul of our popular foodservice mobile app. Previously called “BEEFlexible,” a new and improved app, “BEEFoodservice” was unveiled in October. The app is geared toward foodservice professionals, and provides all the tips and tools they need at hand for understanding beef cuts and yields, learning more about how cattle are raised and answering questions about key issues and educational videos to help inspire inclusion of beef cuts into menus.

Another effort deployed this year in partnership with the California Cattle Council was a series of “native advertisements” – comprehensive and in-depth stories about different aspects of beef production featuring local ranchers that are embedded in popular news sites that California consumers visit often. When perusing these sites for news items, consumers see these additional stories highlighting things like animal care, the ranching community and more.

And when it comes to reaching producers, we also pivoted, holding a series of webinars to highlight key efforts and campaigns, share information about consumer research and behavior when it comes to beef purchasing and more in a virtual setting. Recordings of these webinars are available on our website at https://www.calbeef.org/beef-producers, providing an easy way for California beef producers to learn more and better understand their Beef Checkoff dollars at work in California. I encourage any of my fellow producers who haven’t already to check out that web page and take advantage of the many educational resources available.

As we move forward from this year, we will have to continue to be innovative in our approach. Consumer buying habits and overall behavior shifted during this time, so understanding how we can best engage and reach them moving forward will be key to our long-term success. And we will keep an eye on what the long-term impacts and implications might be on consumers’ lives and buying habits.

I know I’m not alone when I say that it has been a mentally exhausting year, for many reasons. When we first began navigating this chapter, I worried that our organization would grow more apart. But the opposite has happened – we have come together more than I could have imagined and are closing out the year tighter than ever.

I am proud of the progress the California Beef Council has made this year despite many challenges. I am also proud to have been the first chair in the new Zoom era – we may not have been able to meet in person this year, but we were able to get business done virtually, with our staff and our board of producers rising to the challenge.

I want to give a fist bump, thumbs up, or high five (due to COVID) to each member of the staff as they have gone above and beyond in this tumultuous year. Bill Dale, I could not have done it without you. Your patience, guidance and sense of direction in these dark times sure made this year exciting, productive and pleasurable.

It has been my pleasure to serve as chair of the CBC and represent my fellow beef producers in this role. As we look ahead to a new year, I hope we all find success, good health and maybe just a bit of normalcy in 2021.