Canada Beef is pleased to provide Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) with a year-to-date overview of domestic and international market development and promotion activities to increase demand for Canadian beef while ensuring the maximum value for producer values.
ABP’s partnership in Canada Beef’s Provincial Marketing Alliance (PMA) program in fiscal (F)2023-24 included a yearlong consumer campaign and distribution of 1,600 co-branded Make the Most of Your Beef resource. ABP’s PMA investment in the consumer campaign continues this fiscal and incorporates the 150th anniversary of the Alberta Beef consumer brand in 2024.
Initiated to encourage beef lovers to continue their support of Alberta Beef, the campaign also persuades consumers who don’t often have beef in their diet to consider adding it. Co-branding with the Canadian Beef brand mark and social platforms communicates an underlying campaign sentiment that Alberta Beef is high quality Canadian beef. The PMA program aligns the collective expertise and resources of provincial cattle organizations through shared goals, objectives, and consumer marketing initiatives. Projects that meet shared consumer marketing goals are eligible for a 50/50 investment match between Canada Beef and the PMA partner.
Canada Beef’s Alberta Beef Export Market Development (ABEMD) program provides cost-shared funding support for eligible Alberta beef representative company-initiated projects and activities in five broad-based categories essential for achieving diversification through export market growth.
In F2023-24, 38 of a total 42 Export Market Development program projects received additional support from ABEMD. Of the 38 projects funded by the ABEMD last fiscal, applicants reported estimated new export sales value of $48.5 million.
So far, this fiscal year (April 1 to August 31) 29 of the 34 projects approved were eligible for additional support from the ABEMD. All five federally inspected beef processing plants in Alberta have benefitted from support provided by the ABEMD program.
The ABEMD program is a partnership between Canada Beef (50 per cent), Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (25 per cent) and the Alberta beef industry (25 per cent).
Canada Beef’s Pick the Beef with the Leaf year-long consumer campaign supports Canadian beef with a focus on value and the Canadian Beef Advantage. The national campaign is designed to address consumer concerns about beef pricing and the proliferation of imported beef at retail.
A recent segment of this national campaign targeted the Toronto market and featured local beef producers and popular influencers to spread the message of sustainable beef production. The campaign included two billboard placements on major Toronto highways during the Canadian National Exhibition and a featured ad in a Globe & Mail magazine insert.
Canada Beef’s social platforms support marketing efforts by building brand loyalty and consumer awareness about beef production. Combined results for April 1 to September 30,
2024, totalled 27+ million consumer impressions, 231,005 engagements and 27,623 post link clicks. New followers acrross six social platforms increased 3.7 per cent for a total combined fan base of 82,563 followers.
New resources for health professionals are available on ThinkBeef.ca’s Healthy Aging section. The resources include two infographics (Stay Strong and Protein Check) and one educational health brochure (Eat Well. Age Well). The development of this work follows background research completed by the team last fiscal, which identified seniors as Canada’s fastest-growing demographic. The research found that protein is a key part of the prevention or management of frailty. Including protein-rich meat such as beef in meals can
help seniors optimize their protein intakes.
The Canadian Beef Information Gateway’s capacity was expanded to enable Canadian consumers to scan existing bar codes on beef packages with a smartphone. Consumers were introduced to this new scanning capability in January 2024.
Scanning barcodes will provide dedicated information about a specific product, including recipes, videos, storage, and preparation tips, as well as nutrition information. The Gateway
supports barcodes from more than 30 retailers who, together, represent most of the beef sold in Canadian grocery stores.
The Wholesale Gateway announced the capability to scan barcodes on packer box labels in October. This latest feature was implemented at Harmony Beef in Balzac, Alberta, who will
be using the scanning feature to help end-users learn more about their products.
The Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence (CBCE) developed 150 commercial recipes and visual media assets for Canada Beef’s Foodservice Culinary Planners. The recipes highlight
opportunity cuts – products that have special value propositions for foodservice operators due to cost, availability, ease of processing and other factors. An additional 50 recipes
will be developed this year.
Burger It Forward’s 2024 campaign achieved a 77 per cent increase in participation and doubled the number of burgers sold in 2023. Calgary’s Clive Burger achieved the most individual burger sales, with 1,581 burgers sold. The campaign raised $67,406 for
food bank efforts across the country.
For detailed information, please subscribe to Canada Beef Performs and read the Canada Beef Annual Report 2023-2024. A short video of key highlights from F2023-24 is available
on YouTube.
This article was submitted for Alberta Beef Producers’ 2024 Annual Report. Find the full report here.