Today the Beef Checkoff Program, in partnership with the American GrillMaster Experience, announced the kick-off of a nationwide grilling tour taking place at Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour events. Using beef grilling demonstrations, product samples, recipes and other checkoff-funded resources, the American GrillMaster Experience educates and informs consumers about the value and benefits of cooking with beef and grilling techniques.
A total of 30 events covering 25 states are slated for the 2013 tour, which runs from March to November. Events will take place at Sam’s Club® locations, as part of the Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour, which is the largest Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned competition series. The Grill Master’s samples are sourced from premium quality Sam’s Club beef, which has a 200 percent freshness guarantee.
“I had the opportunity to experience the 2012 Bentonville, Ark., event and was thoroughly impressed,” says Brett Morris, producer from Ninnekah, Okla., and vice-chair of the Beef Image Committee. “It truly is an event everyone should experience because of the professionalism the checkoff sponsored Grill Master, Michael McDearman, puts into it.. In addition, when going behind the scenes, I thought I had eaten good beef before until I sampled the competition food and there was not one bad entry to be tasted! What really connects consumers to the experience is that the competitors demonstrate the potential beef taste and tenderness it can achieve. It will knock their socks off.”
In 2010, Sam’s Club launched a pilot competitive barbecue program and became the first major retailer to sponsor KCBS, the largest and most respected barbecue sanctioning body in the world. From that pilot program, the Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour was born. During 2011, the inaugural tour became the largest competitive barbecue series in America, and in 2013, the extremely popular competition series will award a whopping $500,000 in prize money.
“These events provide the beef checkoff with an opportunity to encourage interaction between the grillers and consumers,” said Morris. “The Grill Master showcases the different ways to prepare premium-quality beef and to bring out the full flavor and taste each product provides. He speaks about unique pairings for beef products and educates consumers with information they can take home and apply on their own grills.”
Click here to view the GrillMaster events schedule or visit GrillMasterTour.com.
For more information about your Beef Checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Source: The Beef Checkoff Program