The Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) has completed its latest steak campaign which encouraged consumers in Northern Ireland to cook with steak cuts throughout lockdown and the results are extremely encouraging.
The five-week-long campaign focussed on social media and utilised a series of local ‘influencers’ to encourage consumers to create restaurant-style meals in the comfort of their own home, using higher value cuts of beef.
‘Steakhouse Saturdays’ was prominent across Facebook and Instagram. Influencers such as ‘The Belfast Food Blogger’ and ‘Hungry Girl Belfast’ created short videos showcasing Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) steak cuts, using LMC recipes hosted on BeefandLambni.com. Each video highlighted the importance of looking for the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assurance Scheme logo when purchasing beef and lamb, as a guarantee of quality, provenance and a means to support local farmers. The videos and mid-week recipe inspiration posts prompted over 1.8 million impressions with consumers across Northern Ireland.
LMC’s education and consumer promotions manager, Lauren Hyde, said: “It is very encouraging to see that consumers continue to enjoy high quality beef despite being in lockdown. Many consumers got involved and sent in images of their own ‘Steakhouse Saturdays’. Lockdown has provided each of us a unique opportunity to enhance our cooking skills, try new recipes and share our own cooking experiences which will have an important place now, and beyond lockdown.”
The campaign saw extremely positive engagement from consumers. Almost 17,000 NI people used LMC’s website, BeefandLambNI.com throughout the campaign to look for beef and lamb recipes. The site hosts a vast range of recipes as well as information on the Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme.
The initiative was launched in response to concerns raised by the industry as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent drop in demand for higher-value beef cuts particularly from the hospitality industry almost overnight.
LMC’s industry development manager, Colin Smith, commented: “It was intended that the campaign would drive consumer demand for hind-quarter cuts and help relieve pressures on the industry at this time. We are very encouraged with the results of the campaign and the impact it has had on consumers in Northern Ireland. Now, as we move forward and restrictions begin to lift, we will continue to engage with consumers on supporting our local farmers and supply chains by choosing NIFQA beef and lamb when eating from restaurants, on the move and at home.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
