Beef Checkoff Program Aids Restaurants, Retailers Amid High Prices
The Beef Checkoff's channel marketing program helps restaurants and retailers navigate high beef prices by ensuring visibility and competitive offerings to consumers.
DENVER, Sept. 24, 2026 -- Faced with elevated beef prices, restaurants and retailers are seeking ways to balance costs with consumer demand. The Beef Checkoff-funded Channel Marketing program provides these businesses with strategies to maintain beef's competitive position on menus and in meat cases.
The initiative aims to keep beef visible and appealing to consumers, even during periods of high cost. Melissa Daniels, a cattle producer and Beef Board member, emphasized the importance of ensuring beef remains an option presented to customers.
Implemented by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the Channel Marketing team collaborates directly with restaurant chains, retailers, distributors, and e-commerce platforms, including major companies like Walmart and McDonald's. In fiscal year 2025, the program engaged over 250 decision-makers through industry tours, culinary ideation sessions, and educational trainings.
The program leverages market research, beef expertise, and marketing resources to assist partners in understanding, promoting, and selling beef more effectively. This can involve identifying alternative cuts or applications when costs are high, or developing new menu concepts for restaurants. For instance, one burger chain received assistance in developing six new menu concepts.
Daniels noted that these partnerships focus on solving business challenges, such as managing high beef prices, by identifying alternative cuts or uses that preserve beef's value for consumers.