Creating consumer demand for Charolais and Charolais-influenced beef is critical to the long-term growth of the breed. That’s why in April 2023, the American-International Charolais Association (AICA) Commercial Committee voted to fund staff dedicated to marketing Charolais-influenced beef at the retail and consumer level. The breeders felt bringing support on board was the right move to make while pursuing the larger focus of building value for the Charolais breed.
In September, the AICA Board hired Stacey Rincker and David Bisek to provide focus on marketing Charolais and Charolais-influenced beef in the marketplace. Both come to the American-International Charolais Association (AICA) with a robust background in the beef and food industries.
Rincker’s background includes working with Tyson Fresh Meats while employed at Midan Marketing, the leading meat marketing agency in the U.S. Rincker has prior experience with the Illinois Beef Association and JBS/Pilgrim’s. Rincker has a dual degree in animal science and animal industry management from Illinois State University.
Bisek’s background includes working at Cargill beef where he provided marketing support for most of the beef brands in Cargill’s portfolio. He then spent time with Whole Foods Market and most recently as an independent consultant for packaged food startups. Bisek has an integrated marketing communications degree from Wichita State University.
The long-term goal is to create consumer awareness and demand for Charolais-influenced beef across the supply chain, from producers to consumers. The short-term focus is finding opportunities where we can build a partnership with packers and the distributor sector to build a beef marketing program.
If we can accomplish the goal of creating consumer demand for Charolais-influenced beef, we believe this will lead to increased packer demand for Charolais-influenced market cattle, which should increase the demand for Charolais bulls[SR1] . With a focus on consumer pull-through, demand should progress up the supply chain, resulting in more buyers looking for Charolais bulls.
As we dive into this project, there are five components to our process:
1. Research the current market situation and bring potential opportunities to light for further investigation.
2. Dive into the distribution channels from foodservice to retail and connect with packers, large and small, to identify where supply exists and how to get that supply through the distribution channels to end users.
3. Determine the core messages we want to promote that will resonate with end users.
4. Determine which claims we can make to differentiate ourselves from the competition. Marketing messages must be backed by robust data and insights.
5. Develop a program (or programs) that drives end user awareness and consumer demand, both now and into the future. What that looks like is yet to be determined. There could very well be multiple paths to seeing our long-term goal come to fruition.
Two potential focus areas have come to light during the pair’s first two months on the job. They believe Charolais genetics have a sustainability advantage that could excite the industry and suppliers who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint. They also see opportunities in the culinary world with fine dining. With its French heritage, Charolais could make a lot of sense in restaurants looking to provide a new dining experience. They’ve also been told Charolais-influenced beef possesses a flavor that is appealing to certain palates. These are just two opportunities they feel could help our Charolais-influenced beef stand out in the market. There are sure to be more opportunities yet to be uncovered.
As they dive into this opportunity, they’re excited to see where it leads. They can’t do it without the support and resources of the members and staff of the AICA. They’re looking forward to meeting many of you in the coming weeks and months. Please feel free to reach out at any time, with your thoughts or ideas: Stacey Rincker, srincker@charolaisusa.com and David Bisek, Director, dbisek@charolaisusa.com. — AICA
