The consumer demand for beef was up 5.6 percent for 2001, which is a strong indicator that the beef industry is on track to meet its three-year goal of growing consumer demand for beef six percent above 2000 levels by the end of 2004.

Improved demand for the fourth quarter for 2001 marks the 12th quarter out of the past 14 in which consumer demand for beef has increased.

This is great news for our industry! We have made great strides in the first year of this plan, but it's not time to sit back and coast. We must continue to work to maintain and improve America's confidence in beef.

It was agreed upon several years ago that the key to increasing overall demand was to improve the value of products from the chuck and round -- cuts of beef that have traditionally been underutilized. Values for the chuck and the round began increasing in 1999 and have increased every year since.

These increasing values have been accredited to the growth of new, convenient beef products developed from the chuck and the round, better marketing for chuck and round cuts at the retail and food service levels and increased research into the characteristics of several key muscles in these cuts.

This research has revealed several whole muscle groups that can now be utilized as a medium priced cut such as the Flatiron Steak and Ranch Cut Steak, which is currently being introduced at the retail and foodservice level.

Total consumer spending for beef for the year was $57 billion. That is $4.3 billion more than 2000 spending levels and $7.6 billion more than 1999 levels. ©