Poultry Dethrones Beef At The Top Of The Food Chain Cattle Ranchers Get Some Marketing Advice From WSU Expert

Poultry has plucked the top spot as king of the meat industry away from beef.

While beef is losing its place on America’s tables, chicken is fast flying toward 50 percent of the total meat market share. Pork is also a challenger.

The beef business, on the other hand, has been slower to respond to consumer demands for items like complete dinner packs, easy-to-prepare and pre-cooked packaged meals. As a result, beef often is not what’s for dinner any more.

In explaining this to Davenport-area cattle ranchers recently, Washington State University extension agent Tom Platt used the example of a head of lettuce, which sells for about 89 cents a pound. A processor took the lettuce, cut it up, repackaged it with a packet of salad dressing and sold it for $2.66 a pound.

“They increased the price three to four fold,” Platt said.”That’s the crux of what the beef industry is starting to recognize - what poultry recognized 15 to 20 years ago.”

Besides reaching a market of consumers who want easy-to-fix meals, the beef industry could more easily unload its less desirable cuts. Platt said there could be more of the pre-packaged meals such as meat with pasta and gravy or a beef fajita package with tortillas and vegetables to make use of the round and chuck cuts of beef that don’t sell as well as the prime steaks. “And focus groups show consumers are willing to pay $3 to $4 a serving,” Platt said.

Everyone in the beef industry, from ranchers to retailers, need to join forces in a marketing effort to get these value-added products to grocery store shelves, Platt said.

“That’s going to be hard. We’re an industry that likes to shoot ourself in the foot and fight a lot.”

Unless the industry changes its approach, beef’s market share is expected to drop to 25 percent by 2005, a huge decline from 55 percent in 1970. Beef has lost 12 percent of its share of the meat market since 1980 which has cost the industry $12.84 billion, Platt said.

That hurts Washington and Idaho cattle ranchers who last year were getting 60 cents per pound for their beef, the same as they got in 1932. This year they’re still wondering if they’ll make a profit.

Finding new ways to market beef is the only way to keep the industry alive, Platt said. “If we don’t do it, we’ll end up like the sheep and lamb industry, which is pretty much dead today. We have a tough, long battle ahead of us.”

Platt’s presentation of new beef products left some cattle ranchers bewildered.

“To get these 15-minute meals, there has to be a certain amount of chemicals involved,” said Tom Scharff, a Lincoln County rancher and wheat farmer. “That’s confusing, especially in a time when everyone wants organic food.”

And the cattlemen and women didn’t find the products such as fried beef nuggets all that appealing.

“It’s not something I’d go buy because I know what a good steak is,” said Connie McKay, who raises cattle in Grand Coulee and Almira. “I’ve bought Stouffer’s and Lean Cuisine (packaged meals) and I think they’re all bland. You can’t fix them with salt or basil.”

Other ranchers, who said they probably wouldn’t buy the new products since they like their beef fresh, were ready to accept the direction of the market.

“As long as they sell more beef, I don’t care,” Mark Hubbard said. “I guess that’s the way it’s going to go.”

, DataTimes