If there has been a massive turning away from beef as a result of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (so-called “Mad Cow” disease), direct marketers that specialize in steaks and the like claim not to have experienced it. Whether they have taken steps to reassure their customers varies greatly by company.
For instance, at Omaha Steaks “the fallout has been very small, as far as our customers being overly concerned, or any changes in our sales projections,” said Beth Weiss, a company spokesperson. The company has received fewer than 100 calls a day during the first days since the reports of the disease in the United States broke on Dec. 23, out of “thousands” of calls its services center receives, according to Weiss.
Like many meat direct marketers, Omaha Steaks sells solid muscle meat, which are steaks and roasts. Mad Cow disease only presents a risk when brain tissue and spinal cord matter are used either as cattle feed or as delicacies.
But Weiss realized customers would have concerns, and by noon on Dec. 24 the company had not only provided an overview on the products’ safety to its phone workers, but had posted a series of frequently asked questions regarding Mad Cow disease on its Web site (http://shop11.omahasteaks.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=765&RAND=13).
By Christmas Day, the calls about the disease had trailed off to “nearly nothing,” according to Weiss.
“There were no orders cancelled,” she said. “We are extremely thankful [that] we have been able to calm any fears our customers might have had.”
Grand Prairie, TX-based Ranchers Choice Inc. will be sending letters to its customer file around the first of the year, according to Joel Van Pelt, the firm’s president and owner. Those receiving it will include around 50 high-end restaurants and somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 individuals.
Like Omaha Steaks, Van Pelt was quick to point out the provenance of his beef. Not only is it raised in East Texas, primarily at the Strube Ranch, but “All of our beef is traceable. We know their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers and the fields they have grazed in,” Van Pelt said.
The animals’ backgrounds are not an insignificant point, given that the USDA has linked the disease back to a dairy cow located in Washington state, and one all marketers surveyed were quick to point out.
Ranchers Choice mentions it on its Web site, but that didn’t prevent one customer from calling up and requesting that the meat be “Mad Cow free” according to Van Pelt. “But that didn’t stop him from ordering $200 worth of steaks.”
And some marketers, such as Fairbury Steaks, are viewing the disease more as a media malady than an actually threat to their product. Dennis Brown, who owns the Fairbury, NE-based company, reported receiving only one phone call about it out of a 5,000-name customer base. “I have faith in the USDA,” he said. And apparently his customers do as well: Brown said his order volume hadn’t fallen off since the initial reports came to light.
