Fall Beef Checkoff Partnership Aims To Boost Steak Sales

                     Applebee’s restaurants re-launch traditional steaks 

CENTENNIAL, COLO.  (Oct. 26, 2007) – It’s not just another great steak dinner. It’s a casual dining atmosphere where hungry guests can customize their meal, get a variety of choices, and still save on their pocketbooks. Yes, “We’re talkin’ Applebee’s.” 

Now through early January, in partnership with the Beef Checkoff Program, 1,900 Applebee’s restaurants nationwide are launching a new menu that is easier to read and offers customers several new cuts of savory beef. That means taste buds have a choice.  

“We’re pleased to see our checkoff dollars at work and that consumers have a broader beef steak offering through partnerships with restaurants such as Applebee’s,” said Tim Shaw, beef producer from Cascade, Idaho, Cattlemen’s Beef Board member and member of the Joint Foodservice Committee. “These programs help leverage our checkoff dollars by offering more versatile beef items on restaurant menus.” 

Applebee’s is offering the following cuts of beef at the low- to mid-price tier for the restaurant category during the promotion:

·         9 oz. Sirloin: A 9 oz. steak grilled to perfection and served with garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and garlic toast.

·         12 oz. New York Strip: A 12 oz. USDA select-cut steak of high quality and tremendous flavor.

·         12 oz. Ribeye: A seasoned 12 oz. Ribeye brushed in garlic butter, grilled and then served up in a hot skillet alongside sautéed onions and mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes and garlic toast.

The Beef Checkoff will invest $150,000 to help extend the reach to consumers of this new, strong beef message from Applebee’s. This promotion will have nationwide reach and will use the Beef Check Logo or checkoff mention on all advertising, menus, national TV, radio, 1:1 consumer e-mail marketing, collateral materials and on the Web site.    

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 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. 

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