The national beef checkoff, through its Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) and in partnership with the South Dakota Beef Industry Council (SDBIC), grilled up tasty Roseda all-beef hot dogs and MVP burger samples for hungry participants at the 24th Annual Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle. As an official product sponsor of the two-day event, the beef checkoff invited folks to visit the beef booth for recipes, games, giveaways and more information about the versatility of beef and flavor profile that makes it a summertime favorite.
During two-day festival, the beef checkoff's Executive Chef Dave Zino hosted two cooking demos per day in the Giant Sampling Pavilion. Chef Dave cooked up delicious Greek and Korean 'Bowls with Balance' to showcase beef in a variety of ethnic dishes that are packed with protein and nutrients and are low in fat. The beef demos also included three Farmer’s Market Fresh relishes and salsas to accompany the perfect steak. For the second daily demo, Chef Dave quickly whipped up a Tomato Relish, Corn Relish and Pineapple Salsa using fresh ingredients available to consumers all summer long, for a unique twist on the traditional grilled steak.
Thousands of festivalgoers visited the checkoff booth on Pennsylvania Avenue for beef recipes and information about cooking with beef. They were encouraged to use #DCLuvsBeef to talk about beef on social media and win an “I Love Beef” T-shirt, spin the Beef Trivia Wheel to win a BBQ Brush and sample delicious beef burger patties and hot dogs.
The checkoff partnered with Roseda Beef of Monkton, Maryland to offer nearly 8,000 samples of all-beef hot dogs and MVP beef burgers. Mike Brannon, vice president of Old Line Meat Company (the processor for Roseda Beef) said: "As a local beef brand in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, we were fortunate to partner with the checkoff to sample the MVP burgers and our premium Roseda Farm all beef hot dog to eager consumers. We also had many opportunities to speak with attendees about grilling beef and the versatility of beef in the diet.”
To help celebrate the weekend’s festivities, the checkoff's "Miss Patty Melt" mascot took a stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue, greeting and entertaining BBQ Battle attendees. Patty Melt quickly became a crowd favorite as beef-eaters, young and old, stopped to snap a photo with her.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, the checkoff hosted a ‘Let’s Get Grilling’ online contest challenging consumers to test their beef knowledge and enter to win weekly beef swag prizes and tickets to the festival. In total, the contest garnered nearly 68,000 impressions and more than 4,000 engagements with millennial consumers in the surrounding D.C. area.
For more information about upcoming NEBPI events, including Team Beef’s participation at the Marine Corps Marathon in October, visit the NEBPI website and Facebook page. For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
Media Contact: Jennifer Orr; jorr@pabeef.org
UNDERSTANDING THE BEEF CHECKOFF PROGRAM
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 may 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