'seasoning's greetings' extended to consumers in holiday campaign
december 2020| tammy vaassen, executive director
Throughout the month of December, the Wisconsin Beef Council (WBC) is extending “Seasoning’s Greetings” to consumers across Wisconsin through virtual events, beef cooking tips, social media, delicious holiday meal recipes, and more!
Whether friends and family will visit in person or virtually, the holiday campaign encourages Wisconsinites to make beef the center of their holiday celebration. WBC is showcasing a crackling ‘Drool Log’ video, the sights and sounds of a Prime Rib roasting over an open fire this holiday season, on our social media and advertising platforms. View the Drool Log, roast recipes, and other beefy holiday tips here.
In addition, Wisconsin Beef Council partnered with the American Culinary Federation Chefs of Milwaukee to host a virtual ‘Roast & Toast’ event for over 20 Wisconsin food bloggers, food media and agricultural influencers in early December. Attendees were provided with a recipe to prepare Pistachio-Crusted Beef Rib Roast with Holiday Wine Sauce, and a gift certificate to purchase the ingredients in advance. This allowed them to prepare the recipe in their own kitchens while following along live with Chef Lisa McKay, Executive Chef and Owner of Lisa Kaye Catering, LLC, and Angie Horkan, WBC’s Director of Marketing. In addition to learning how easy it is to prepare an elegant dinner with a beef rib roast, participants also received suggestions for wine pairings, tips for selecting holiday beef cuts, use of meat thermometers, and roasting guidelines for other popular beef roasts. The goal of the event was to provide these influencers with the tools and confidence to share beef roasting tips and content with their followers, and the event resulted in many tags and shares on participants’ social media platforms.
“We decided to offer this event because we know that more than 56% of sales for the most popular holiday roasts occur during December, including Rib or Ribeye, Tenderloin and Strip Roasts,” said Tammy Vaassen, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Beef Council. “Of course, the main driver is the seasonal favorite — Ribeye Roast. This cut has long been the centerpiece of holiday tables and festive spreads throughout the season.”
In fact, more than 61% of annual Ribeye Roast sales take place during these final three weeks of the year, when it replaces Ribeye Steak as the number one selling beef cut at retail. In 2018, this translated into $247.2 million of sales or 36.9 million pounds, an increase of 4.5% over the prior year. Sales for Strip and Tenderloin Roasts also see sharply higher sales during December. All cuts with significantly higher sales during these three weeks are roast-type items. These cuts allow consumers to do initial preparation and cook the beef low-and-slow while focusing on accompaniments, preparations or entertaining. Ultimately, these cuts result in a festive, tasty and special experience for family and friends to enjoy.
To further reach consumers throughout the month, a “7 Days of Seasonings” giveaway will be held on the WBC Facebook page, providing beef gift certificates and seasonings to winners from across Wisconsin who engage with content on the page. Holiday advertisements have been placed on the WBC social media channels, including a one-minute video of Horkan explaining the basics of preparing a rib roast.
WBC has also created and shared a 20-minute video featuring holiday beef recipes, including a rib roast, with Wisconsin students enrolled in the ProStart program. ProStart is a curriculum and mentoring program designed to introduce high school students to the skills needed for careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. This will encourage them to prepare an elegant dinner for their family while practicing up their culinary skills.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, is also reminding consumers across the country that beef is the only protein that they want to feed their families this holiday season. The Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. campaign will return to broadcast television for the first time since 2003. Television commercials featuring the ‘Drool Log’ will air during the Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas movies, now through New Year’s. NCBA is also working with Chicory to support retail beef sales for the remainder of 2020. This campaign will aim to reach consumers and drive beef purchases in the e-commerce, online grocery space with major retail partners. WBC has been supplementing the national Chicory campaign to increase the number of consumers reached in Wisconsin.
To find more information on how to incorporate beef into your holiday dinner plans, including roasts, brunch, charcuterie boards and appetizers, check out our holiday page linked below.