It s taken two years to begin seeing stories about new convenient beef products. Bielunski also says it s important to tailor messages to the audience. When we meet with food writers and editors, the beef industry has to be telling a story that readers want, she says. We have to base the story we pitch on consumer trends, and our cookery information and recipes must be tried and researched. In 1999, beef checkoff dollars created four of these pages that editors can simply drop in their paper.
Topics are usually seasonal, like holiday roasts or summer grilling.
These editorial pages are offered to newspapers through a national service called Family Features. This is another area where relationships are important, says Bielunski. We often try to increase the pick-up of our color editorial pages by partnering with a complementary commodity like potatoes or branded product, such as A.1. Steak Sauce . Again, we must compete for precious publication space.