National Cattlemen March 2025 | Page 6

From the CEO

Colin Woodall

At what price does the consumer give up beef for other proteins ? That was the subject of many conversations I had during CattleCon last month in San Antonio . Most everybody I talked to was astonished the consumer continues to pay the prices they do for our beef . It ’ s a good conversation for the industry to have , but I don ’ t think we need to be astonished . We produce the most consistent , highest quality beef eating experience we ’ ve ever provided to our consumer . Quite simply , we make mouths water , and they want more .

However , the question of consumer satisfaction remains relevant , and the old saying that you can ’ t manage what you don ’ t measure definitely applies here . In the past year or so , I ’ ve written several of my monthly articles on the importance of Checkofffunded research . NCBA ’ s Scientific Affairs team manages research on product quality , beef safety , nutrition and sustainability . We also conduct market research and intelligence . Our team of market research professionals work every day to measure consumer sentiment , and their information provides valuable insight into where beef stands .

It seems that since the COVID-19 pandemic hit five years ago , it has been nothing but a roller coaster ride for all of us . Pandemic uncertainty , global conflicts , contentious elections and inflation rates we haven ’ t seen for decades have worried most people . Many Americans turn to food as a way to escape the stress of daily life and find a little pleasure and enjoyment . Our beef provides that pleasure and enjoyment in a way that gets our consumers excited for their next beef meal , and the market research and intelligence work we conduct provides the data to substantiate these assertions .

During the Checkoff-funded “ Today ’ s Beef Consumer ” session at CattleCon , the Market Research team shared the information they ’ ve compiled in the past year . In 2024 , fresh beef sales at retail grocery stores were up 9.7 % above 2023 sales . Ten percent year over year sales growth is an impressive number , especially when the data shows our primary competitor , chicken , was only up 3.9 %. Probably even more satisfying to many of you is learning that meat alternative sales were down more than 14 %. You must make consumers ’ mouths water , and meat alternatives just don ’ t do that . That is why Beyond Meat ’ s stock price is currently trading under $ 3 a share versus almost $ 235 a share at its peak .

Our team spends a lot of time digging into the grocery store meat case to see what choices the consumer makes . While the consumer can tell you what they might do in a survey , it is their actual purchases that give us data to gauge where we stand . Let ’ s

take a look at beef ’ s market share of the meat case in terms of value . Last year , beef took 55 % of the value while chicken only took 27 %. Now , many people look at this and say it ’ s because of beef ’ s price compared to that of chicken . No doubt price plays into this , so let ’ s see what beef ’ s market share is in terms of volume or pounds of beef sold . The data shows we are neck and neck with chicken . Pounds of beef sold gives us a 36 % market share while chicken has 38 %. Our market share is strong , and we are focused on using Checkoff-funded research , education and promotion programs to fight for even more of our share of the grocery meat case .

Market share isn ’ t all we look at . Our consumer data shows we beat chicken when it comes to being good for many types of meals . There are only so many ways you can prepare a boneless , skinless chicken breast . Beef , however , provides far more types of cuts and ways to prepare those cuts than any of our competitors . You can eat beef every day for months on end and never have the same dish . Thanks to cuts that vary , from brisket to tri-tip , sometimes deciding on which cut you want is the hardest job . Once you pick your cut , there are numerous recipes from BeefIt ’ sWhat ’ sForDinner . com or any number of the social media influencers we partner with to create that perfect beef meal . In fact , when it comes to a pleasurable eating experience , the consumer is telling us that we beat chicken by almost 30 %.

Consumers consistently rank us 15 percentage points ahead of chicken as a great source of protein . When we ask them which protein they believe is the most nutritious , we are currently their top pick , but we are still extremely close to chicken . We ’ ve come a long way since the dark days of the ‘ 80s and early ‘ 90s when chicken had us concerned about the future of our industry , which leads me to you . You are responsible for this success . When we ask the consumers if they have concerns with how cattle are raised for food , 66 % say they have no concerns and they have a tremendous amount of trust in what you do . In addition , it is your commitment to investing in genetic improvement , new technologies , improved production practices and training such as BQA that has resulted in an increasing percentage of beef being graded USDA Choice or Prime . Continual improvement of our industry is giving us the advantage over our competition .

So , the next time you hear somebody say demand is dismal or we are losing to chicken , you now have the facts to fire back . As long as we stay focused on consumer satisfaction and demand , the future will be bright for all of us .

6 MARCH 2025 www . NCBA . org