Australian Cattle for International Conditions
Grand and Mighty
Time to cut up the beast. Is it a smart or damaging marketing move for CAAB to get Angus on the menu at the golden arches?
Firstly, I believe we need to ask what is CAAB's corporate objective?
1. To provide people who enjoy eating beef with a beef meal which consistently meets their expectations.
2. To produce, under strict quality control procedures, a high quality beef product guaranteed to be tasty, juicy, and tender.
3. To increase the market demand for registered Angus Bulls (Herd Book and APR)
4. To increase the market demand for Angus females and their progeny.
5. To generate funds for the promotion of Angus products and the Angus breed.
6. To enable the rapid accumulation of accurate and useable carcass data for the continuing development of carcass EBV’s.
For my mind, I think they have actually nailed it for items 3, 4 and 5. Items 1 and 2, despite the advertising attempts to surround the product in "class" may suffer somewhat. My own personal experience showed that the product did not take the appearance (handed to me in a greasy box, the bacon was bearly there and the relish slapped on, the contents of the burger all over the place, this was after receiving the cheaper burger for the dearer price and then being told they had run out of the relish for them to suddenly find it) of the advertising, nor have the quality control which we would expect from CAAB MSA products. In fact, I asked for my money back and despite the protests of the restaurant management received it. A friend of mine who doesn't eat at the golden arches says he "doesn't eat any where that uses child labour and the product is endorsed by a clown".
So how will this effect the other CAAB products? I think it may damage the overall brand if allowed to continue for to long. But it does lift the Angus breed up yet another notch in the eyes of the commercial producer as they can see yet another outlet for the product.
Given that the Murray Grey is such a close relative of the Angus breed, what spin off can we expect? None. Unless we tell the end consumers the story and work on getting our own label out there in butcher shops, restaurants and supermarkets.
What are your thoughts?
Firstly, I believe we need to ask what is CAAB's corporate objective?
1. To provide people who enjoy eating beef with a beef meal which consistently meets their expectations.
2. To produce, under strict quality control procedures, a high quality beef product guaranteed to be tasty, juicy, and tender.
3. To increase the market demand for registered Angus Bulls (Herd Book and APR)
4. To increase the market demand for Angus females and their progeny.
5. To generate funds for the promotion of Angus products and the Angus breed.
6. To enable the rapid accumulation of accurate and useable carcass data for the continuing development of carcass EBV’s.
For my mind, I think they have actually nailed it for items 3, 4 and 5. Items 1 and 2, despite the advertising attempts to surround the product in "class" may suffer somewhat. My own personal experience showed that the product did not take the appearance (handed to me in a greasy box, the bacon was bearly there and the relish slapped on, the contents of the burger all over the place, this was after receiving the cheaper burger for the dearer price and then being told they had run out of the relish for them to suddenly find it) of the advertising, nor have the quality control which we would expect from CAAB MSA products. In fact, I asked for my money back and despite the protests of the restaurant management received it. A friend of mine who doesn't eat at the golden arches says he "doesn't eat any where that uses child labour and the product is endorsed by a clown".
So how will this effect the other CAAB products? I think it may damage the overall brand if allowed to continue for to long. But it does lift the Angus breed up yet another notch in the eyes of the commercial producer as they can see yet another outlet for the product.
Given that the Murray Grey is such a close relative of the Angus breed, what spin off can we expect? None. Unless we tell the end consumers the story and work on getting our own label out there in butcher shops, restaurants and supermarkets.
What are your thoughts?
Views: 31
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Dummett on -
One thing this has definately done is highlight the fact that there are different breeds of beef available to the end consumer. Pity we don't have a branded product out there to take advantage of this!
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Permalink Reply by GARY BULLER on -
I think it's a mistake to promote a breed in this fashion.
Firstly, many city folk like burgers but seeing a picture of an Angus bull may well cause a negative response.
That is, it ,"the meat" comes from "live animals". Really enjoyed my last burger but is this one actually from that animal pictured? Just lost my apetite.
Secondly,should any store make a 'hash' of their burgers, even for a short time, then Angus will wear the negative flack.
Thirdly, some might see Angus being flogged as burgers as deminishing their elite image.
Personally, associating a live beast with a product you are about to eat can have very negative consequences for some consumers. Does it worry me, no!
I'm a Hungry Jacks man!!
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Permalink Reply by Rod Hoare & Helena Warren on -
I think McAngus might provide MGs with some promotional opportunities if we are smart enough to capitalise on them.
MURRAY GREY BEEF - TOO GOOD TO MINCE!
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Permalink Reply by Paul Saward on -
I tend to agree with Garry that its risky to promote a breed this way, after all grinding meat is a commodity product.
Like the slogan MG too good to mince.
I think i read some time ago that in the US CAB is well recgognised as a quality product but many consumers havnt a clue that the A stands for Angus a breed of cattle.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Dummett on
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I think we need to be careful not to lose our secondary cuts market. It has to go somewhere and if we can put a label on it all the better. We just need to ensure it is shrouded in words like Gourmet, Organic, Prime, Quality, etc. Watch this space.
Rod Hoare & Helena Warren said:I think McAngus might provide MGs with some promotional opportunities if we are smart enough to capitalise on them.
MURRAY GREY BEEF - TOO GOOD TO MINCE!
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Permalink Reply by Kate James on -
Having a major multinational company firstly adopt your product brand virtually unchanged (angus) and secondly promote it for you across all multimedia is an outstanding achievement for the Angus breed. They should be congratulated. The end consumers should not be our target unless the supply chain can be managed and we realistically do not have the size and scale to attempt this. Therefore our efforts should be in building relationships with the commercial buyers of our cattle and convincing them that the enterprise of either growing, finishing or processing Murray Grey cattle is more profitable than other breeds due to carcase quality, (from growth, finish and temperament) along with heat tolerance (lighter coat colour). Until we re engage the commercial buyers and deliver them what they ask for we will only watch from the sidelines. There is a market opportunity looming for a return to lighter coated british bred cattle. We just have to be there with the right products and a strong message.
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Permalink Reply by Rod Hoare & Helena Warren on
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Good points, Kate.
Hear our Society President on this issue:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2009/11/murray-greys-v-angus.html?progr...
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Permalink Reply by Steve Dummett on
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Permalink Reply by Paul & Terri Woolhouse on -
The most obvious point from the above discussion is that the Angus name is out there in the public eye.
As Gary has stated some people just want to eat their burger and don't want to know all the details.
But there is now a huge demand from the consumer to know everything about what thare are purchasing and especially what they are eating.
There is no point promoting your breed if there is no system in place to identify the product from paddock to plate and as such we need to develop a system that identifies Murray Grey beef to the processors so they can label the proccesed beef and supply to the end retailers.
After speaking to one major retailer last week, we were told that if he knew the breed of beef he was purchasing from the processor he then could label it in store and promote the sales of it (referring to MG).
Once the identification supply chain of Murry Grey beef is in place then you have the opportunity to then approach major and smaller retailers promoting the quaility and taste of Murry Grey beef.
Once you have taken your prime cuts then what do you have left ?
Minced meat.
There is a market for mince. This is a great product, especially for families doing it tough, but there are those out there that want a good quality, tender and juicy steak. It would be good to identify this as they will always return for the tenderest, juiciest cuts, no matter what the cost is. This in turn will raise the market demand and the sale price for the farmers. The meat that is left will be ground meat, this will surely be good quality mince, still juicy and full of flavour, but not necessarily needs to be marketed as Murray Grey mince to the public as the butcher will know the quality of Murray Grey Mince. Mince is such a versatile cooking ingredient, you just have to stand at the meat fridge at you local supemarket to see how many people purchase beef mince.
So lets get the Murray Grey name out there, we are proud of our breed.
* Identify it.
* Market it
* Sell it.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Dummett on
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It is great to see someone equally as passionate about marketing the breed. A major problem often encountered when discussing such ventures is supply. Alot of the major MG commercial breeders already have their buyer who is paying them a premium. Why risk that deal to stand up one which has an uncertain future. Also there are alot of shonky operators out there only to willing to make a quick buck out of us in lieu of the long hard road to success.
RM Williams has or had a Murray Grey beef package. I guess it was a pretty boutique (to use a bullerism) market they were chasing.
To get a branded product off the ground, we would need considerable funding to get the project going, two staff members, breeders support in finding the supply and most importantly a customer. To date despite much effort, no market analysis has been conducted. We are just going on "we know its good so they will buy it" .
Paul & Terri Woolhouse said:The most obvious point from the above discussion is that the Angus name is out there in the public eye.
As Gary has stated some people just want to eat their burger and don't want to know all the details.
But there is now a huge demand from the consumer to know everything about what thare are purchasing and especially what they are eating.
There is no point promoting your breed if there is no system in place to identify the product from paddock to plate and as such we need to develop a system that identifies Murray Grey beef to the processors so they can label the proccesed beef and supply to the end retailers.
After speaking to one major retailer last week, we were told that if he knew the breed of beef he was purchasing from the processor he then could label it in store and promote the sales of it (referring to MG).
Once the identification supply chain of Murry Grey beef is in place then you have the opportunity to then approach major and smaller retailers promoting the quaility and taste of Murry Grey beef.
Once you have taken your prime cuts then what do you have left ?
Minced meat.
There is a market for mince. This is a great product, especially for families doing it tough, but there are those out there that want a good quality, tender and juicy steak. It would be good to identify this as they will always return for the tenderest, juiciest cuts, no matter what the cost is. This in turn will raise the market demand and the sale price for the farmers. The meat that is left will be ground meat, this will surely be good quality mince, still juicy and full of flavour, but not necessarily needs to be marketed as Murray Grey mince to the public as the butcher will know the quality of Murray Grey Mince. Mince is such a versatile cooking ingredient, you just have to stand at the meat fridge at you local supemarket to see how many people purchase beef mince.
So lets get the Murray Grey name out there, we are proud of our breed.
* Identify it.
* Market it
* Sell it.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Dummett on
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