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Labeling Leads To Increased Sales

published: August 13th 2009
source: thebeefsite.com

While many consumers are aware that beef is a great source of protein, most are unaware it contains many other beneficial nutrients.

With the goal of determining how best to educate consumers on beef’s nutritional value, a checkoff-funded study on nutrition labeling was conducted.

In the first phase, consumer focus groups were conducted to determine opinions about the current nutrition info on beef products. The results show consumers want more info on beef’s nutritional content than what’s currently found in most supermarkets.

More than 25 per cent of participants said they frequently read meat nutrition labels and use the info in purchase decisions. Consumers also expressed confusion when 0 per cent Daily Values appeared on the nutrition label. They would prefer a label on beef products that lists the Daily Value of only those nutrients found in beef. In addition, the respondents would prefer to see labels on the front of the package while still maintaining a clear view of the meat.

To explore the premise that consumer perceptions about beef’s health benefits could be positively impacted by a comprehensive labeling and point-of-sale retail program, an in-store test was conducted. The goals were to:

    * Educate consumers on the benefits of beef.
    * Work with retailers to launch an on-pack nutrition-labeling program that lists the key nutrients found in beef, including zinc, protein, iron and B-vitamins.
    * Provide retailers with additional supporting nutrition-education materials including point-of-sale signage and media support.
    * Analyze results to see if and how consumer perceptions and sales were impacted.

To save space on the front of the package, the nutrition facts label was integrated into the scale label, and only nutrients contained in beef were included. To conserve label space, those micronutrients mandated by the government to be included on the Nutrition Facts