At this year’s American Angus Convention, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, had the chance to visit with the President of Certified Angus Beef, John Stika, about the success of the Certified Angus Beef brand.
The focus of the convention, Stika said, was innovation and keeping the Angus breed moving forward for years to come. One of the most significant innovations in the beef industry, Stika said, has been Certified Angus Beef.
“When you look before Certified Angus Beef, it was just a commodity industry,” Stika said. “I think when you look at where we are at today, the brand is the emphasis that really got that branded beef revolution started.”
While there are many programs that continue to add value, Stika said the Angus industry is proud of the 45-year history of Certified Angus Beef. For the eighth year in a row, Stika said over a billion pounds of Certified Beef have been sold globally.
“This last year, we sold, around the world, 1,227,000 pounds of Certified Angus Beef, which is the third best year in our history as a brand,” Stika said.
International and domestic partners on the merchandising side of CAB have aided in this success, Stika said, along with a diversified customer base.
“The only year that our food service partners haven’t grown is Covid, and I think that is understandable when we all know what happened at restaurant levels during that period of time,” Stika said.
For the fifth year in a row, Stika said over half a billion pounds of Certified Angus Beef sold domestically through retail partners.
One of those partners, Stika added, is Buc-ee’s.
“They have been a long-time Certified Angus Beef Partner,” Stika said. “They sell a phenomenal Certified Angus Beef smoked brisket sandwich that is the talk of the interstate. The thing I really wanted to emphasize about Buc-ee’s isn’t just the fact that they are a great partner, and we are proud to be able to work with them, but also there was a time when we would have said we would never sell our brand in a gas station.”
While there was a time when gas stations were not viewed as “innovative enough,” Stika said that today, consumers are looking for premium beef wherever they buy food and shop.
“Buc-ees is a place where a lot of people buy food and a lot of people shop,” Stika said.
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