05/15/07 Branding Beef

For someone who is married to a marketing aficionado I have been schooled in the art of branding products. I have been told that if Morton's can brand salt, literally anything can be branded. To the frustration of my husband who was raised in the cattle industry, branded beef has been a fairly recent phenomenon Yet it's worked. Today the most recognized branded beef is Certified Angus but consumers can select a variety of gourmet cuts, cows and companies; from Kobe to Allen Brothers, natural fed to hormone free. Last year consumers bought more than 544 million pounds of Certified Angus Beef equating to 2.3 billion in retail sales. Premium meat has been responsible for a two to three percent sales increase at chain restaurants. Steak Houses are booming and so are gourmet burgers. The Burger Bar in Los Vegas now sells a $16 Kobe style patty. For over a century American cattlemen have been branding their cattle who would have ever guessed that ultimately it would be for the consumers benefit.