Atlantic City, N.J., is not exactly cattle country. But the gaming hub was a great place for a spring food show where consumers could meet someone from cattle country.

Paul Dykstra, beef cattle specialist with Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), spent two days at the SYSCO-Philly Food Show, educating retailers and restaurateurs.

“We offered information and interaction,” says Dykstra, who joined four other CAB staffers at the March tradeshow.

Charlie Boyer, SYSCO-Philly’s CAB specialist, invited Dykstra after meeting him out on the range last summer.

“We’ve had all the marketing specialists here before,” Boyer says. “This year we took it one step further. It’s really helpful for the customers to see somebody who actually works with the animals.”

CAB is owned by the 35,000 members of the American Angus Association, and involved with every segment from the ranch to the consumer.

“We have a unique connection to seedstock producers, commercial cattlemen, feeders and packers,” says Dykstra. “We have relationships with food service distributors, purveyors and restaurants. Through our marketing efforts, we also reach out to the end consumer.”

CAB served samples, gave cooking demonstrations and answered questions. Dykstra completed the effort by showing samples of feed and AngusSource ear tags.

Boyer wanted to highlight links to the cattle side of the industry after traveling in South Dakota for CAB producer meetings in June 2006.

“I talked about what’s on the plate,” Boyer recalls. “We’re the ones who rely on the quality of that product when we’re selling it to the customers, so it has to stack up.”

Earlier this year, on the other coast, a conference geared toward the restaurant trade told the cattlemen’s story, too. Lance Zimmerman, supply development marketing manager, traveled with three other CAB staffers to the Samataguma Ranch, north of San Diego, Calif.

They conducted a seminar for CAB-licensed distributor U.S. Foodservices Joseph Webb.

“I talked about the life of a calf from conception to the packing plant,” says Zimmerman. Other presentations included genetic selection and “The Science Behind the Sizzle.”

“One of the biggest responses was, ‘We didn’t realize all that went into raising cattle to meet CAB specifications,’” Zimmerman says.
Price Chopper, a New York-based grocery store chain, takes advantage of its CAB licensee status through training for its employees.

“We’re always talking about what more we can do to educate our customers and our associates,” says Jerry Wallace, meat director for the retailer.

With help from CAB, he hosted a “farm day” for the company’s meat managers.

“We wanted to take them to the farm and let them see exactly what the science-based specifications are all about,” he says. “A lot of our guys and gals had never seen cattle on the hoof before.”
The event was held at Trowbridge Angus Farms near Canandaigua, N.Y.

“The more we educate them, the more they will tell the customers, because people like to talk about what they know,” Wallace says, noting his production knowledge has grown, too.

This farm news was published in the June 13, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.