Recent information shows that the meat industry in this country has a lot of work to do with the American consumer. At the recent 2013 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville Michael Uetz with Midan Marketing, spoke during one of the sessions titled, “Demystifying the Meat Case for Today’s Confused Consumer.”

“We were shocked when we went in and talked with consumers one-on-one about what some of the challenges were. Bottom line: they were thoroughly confused with our product,” Michael said. He added that the consumers didn’t know the names, and the nomenclatures the meat industry has used for years was confusing to them. They just weren’t cutting it when it came to doing a good job communicating with their customer base. But he thinks they are now on the road to doing better.

“This new platform we have developed based on our research is one of getting rid of this confusion by tightening up our names, getting rid of industry jargon, coming up with something more memorable, and giving them more information on how to prepare and use.”

Michael credited the Pork and Beef Checkoffs for helping fund this research. He said they’ll still have to work through some of the regulatory agencies, such as USDA, to implement these changes, but he thinks it will help. “We hope it makes a big difference.”

Listen to my interview with Michael here: Interview with Michael Uetz

2013 Annual Meat Conference Photo Album