The national beef checkoff, through its Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), and in partnership with the Pennsylvania Beef Council, South Dakota Beef Industry Council and Virginia Beef Industry Council, hosted the region’s first BEEFMersion culinary experience for local chefs and foodservice marketing associates on May 4 in Washington, D.C. Participants represented a broad range of professional in the foodservice industry; from mid-sized restaurant chains, historic inns, national hotel chains and regional purveyors.
(Photo Captions: Northeast Region’s first BEEFMersion Culinary Experience)
The objective of the experience was to stimulate fresh thinking, generate new trend-forward beef menu ideas and on-trend beef culinary concepts as well as new recipe inspirations that would appeal to the Millennial generation. Participants were also provided with the opportunity to taste-test a variety of beef choices available in marketplace today and have their beef production-related questions answered first-hand from a regional cattle farmer.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of this event. Not only did the chefs enjoy activities of menu ideation and flavor profiling today, but a few from our Virginia group are taking advantage of an opportunity to do a Farm to Plate tour with the Nebraska Beef Council to further their knowledge and the successes of beef in their restaurants. State beef council partnerships are crucial in providing multiple, holistic opportunities to move the dial for beef demand,” said Valerie Van Dyke, Director of Consumer Information with the Virginia Beef Industry Council.
Attendees experienced three diverse and trendy restaurants and sampled three beef dishes at each venue throughout the afternoon, while the checkoff’s Executive Chef Dave Zino lead the group through various brainstorming activities to encourage group idea sharing.
Jay Quander, Director of Food & Beverages at the George Washington’s Mount Vernon Inn located in Mount Vernon, Va., commented after the event, “This was a great opportunity to see other venues and what they are doing with beef as well as network with one another as chefs. It was certainly a day well-spent and we hope there is another one.”
“It was an eye opener and I found it to be a great experience, to see different styles of dining back-to-back. Fast-casual to traditional with new American cuisine and classic dishes. It was great to interact with the other chefs here,” noted Andrew Martinez, Meat Specialist with Metropolitan Meat, Seafood & Poultry of Landover, Md.
For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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