Market Trends
National Meat Association
Born & Raised in the USA®
If a consumer package of imported beef had a label identifying the country from which it came, Carolyn Carey would never have developed her Born and Raised in the USA® label. However, as you and I know, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and even Uruguay for that matter do not clearly identify their product for the US consumer to see. So, Carolyn, a rancher from Alturas, California decided it was high time to do something about it and developed her own label and even had it registered and trade marked. Now anyone who wants to use the phrase Born and Raised in the USA (I guess except for Bruce Springsteen) on a package of meat will have to get Carolyn's approval.
Doesn't that just make your heart proud? While all the big boys, and by that I mean NCBA and R-Calf not to mention the Congress of the United States, have been ruminating and fulminating over mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, a rancher decided to take some action to get something done about it. And, she did! She got a label approved by the USDA and registered it herself and snubbed her nose at the big boys. In fact, Carolyn's "Born and Raised in the USA®" is approved for not only beef but also lamb, pork, fish, game and fowl. As she pointed out to me recently, it's kind of neat how all those meats are four letter words.
I asked Carolyn why she decided to develop the label, and she said that it had nothing to do with anything other than trying to let the consumer know where their beef came from She said, "By default, US beef would be identified if beef from outside the US had a label that was maintained through to the final consumer." She told me, "I kept getting asked questions from other ranchers like, 'Why can't we label our own beef?' and I just decided that, yes we could." "It really wasn't too difficult to get the USDA approval," she said. "They just wanted to make sure that anyone I let use the label could darn well prove that the beef came from animals that were just like the label says, born and raised in the USA."
Carolyn's label, although she probably wouldn't admit it, is the perfect example of voluntary COOL. It may be voluntary but it's not free. She is an astute enough rancher and businesswoman to demand a royalty for her label. And she deserves every cent she gets for its use. In my discussions with Carolyn, I pointed out to her what a great marketing tool her label was and how valuable I thought it could become. She said that she certainly didn't develop it to become rich. But, she knows that it serves a valuable purpose. Unless and until there is something to take its place, she plans to just keep telling ranchers that they can identify their beef with a small flag (that's part of the registered label) and the words Born and Raised in the USA. This is a perfect example of guerrilla marketing at its best.
Should we have mandatory COOL or even voluntary? I don't know, but I sure admire someone who saw a marketing problem and turned it into marketing solution. When meat companies tell me that the beef business is dominated by a few big players or the retail sector is becoming dominated by a giant with lesser hangers on and they just can't do anything unless these behemoths agree and approve, I think of what Carolyn did. It should give you some hope, too. She didn't think of problems, she thought of solutions and then did what 99% of those who come up with a great idea don't do—she did whatever was necessary to turn her idea into a viable product.
We don't have to wait for the Supreme Court to reflect or rather review the beef check off and whether it is constitutional or not and whether it will continue. We don't have to wait for Congress to decide if food products from outside the US should have a label declaring so. We need to follow Carolyn's lead and do whatever we feel it will take to keep consumers informed about out products. Just remember one thing. If those products raised, manufactured and packaged off our shores are perceived by consumers to be better than those we produce, we have opened Pandora's Box. If it says Born and Raised in the USA, it better be better than those products that are not.
Mack H. Graves of Latigo, Inc., a meat and poultry marketing and management consulting company, wrote this Marketing Trends. You may reach him at his office phone: 303-699-7795, mobile: 303-882-5453, fax: 303-699-7206 or e-mail him at [email protected].
National Meat Association
Born & Raised in the USA®
If a consumer package of imported beef had a label identifying the country from which it came, Carolyn Carey would never have developed her Born and Raised in the USA® label. However, as you and I know, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and even Uruguay for that matter do not clearly identify their product for the US consumer to see. So, Carolyn, a rancher from Alturas, California decided it was high time to do something about it and developed her own label and even had it registered and trade marked. Now anyone who wants to use the phrase Born and Raised in the USA (I guess except for Bruce Springsteen) on a package of meat will have to get Carolyn's approval.
Doesn't that just make your heart proud? While all the big boys, and by that I mean NCBA and R-Calf not to mention the Congress of the United States, have been ruminating and fulminating over mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, a rancher decided to take some action to get something done about it. And, she did! She got a label approved by the USDA and registered it herself and snubbed her nose at the big boys. In fact, Carolyn's "Born and Raised in the USA®" is approved for not only beef but also lamb, pork, fish, game and fowl. As she pointed out to me recently, it's kind of neat how all those meats are four letter words.
I asked Carolyn why she decided to develop the label, and she said that it had nothing to do with anything other than trying to let the consumer know where their beef came from She said, "By default, US beef would be identified if beef from outside the US had a label that was maintained through to the final consumer." She told me, "I kept getting asked questions from other ranchers like, 'Why can't we label our own beef?' and I just decided that, yes we could." "It really wasn't too difficult to get the USDA approval," she said. "They just wanted to make sure that anyone I let use the label could darn well prove that the beef came from animals that were just like the label says, born and raised in the USA."
Carolyn's label, although she probably wouldn't admit it, is the perfect example of voluntary COOL. It may be voluntary but it's not free. She is an astute enough rancher and businesswoman to demand a royalty for her label. And she deserves every cent she gets for its use. In my discussions with Carolyn, I pointed out to her what a great marketing tool her label was and how valuable I thought it could become. She said that she certainly didn't develop it to become rich. But, she knows that it serves a valuable purpose. Unless and until there is something to take its place, she plans to just keep telling ranchers that they can identify their beef with a small flag (that's part of the registered label) and the words Born and Raised in the USA. This is a perfect example of guerrilla marketing at its best.
Should we have mandatory COOL or even voluntary? I don't know, but I sure admire someone who saw a marketing problem and turned it into marketing solution. When meat companies tell me that the beef business is dominated by a few big players or the retail sector is becoming dominated by a giant with lesser hangers on and they just can't do anything unless these behemoths agree and approve, I think of what Carolyn did. It should give you some hope, too. She didn't think of problems, she thought of solutions and then did what 99% of those who come up with a great idea don't do—she did whatever was necessary to turn her idea into a viable product.
We don't have to wait for the Supreme Court to reflect or rather review the beef check off and whether it is constitutional or not and whether it will continue. We don't have to wait for Congress to decide if food products from outside the US should have a label declaring so. We need to follow Carolyn's lead and do whatever we feel it will take to keep consumers informed about out products. Just remember one thing. If those products raised, manufactured and packaged off our shores are perceived by consumers to be better than those we produce, we have opened Pandora's Box. If it says Born and Raised in the USA, it better be better than those products that are not.
Mack H. Graves of Latigo, Inc., a meat and poultry marketing and management consulting company, wrote this Marketing Trends. You may reach him at his office phone: 303-699-7795, mobile: 303-882-5453, fax: 303-699-7206 or e-mail him at [email protected].
