LAS VEGAS — Certified Angus Beef ‘s 45th Annual Conference drew around 700 brand partner attendees to celebrate #BeefBash23 Sept. 20-22, toasting the brand’s successes, hearing about growth opportunities (particularly in value-added products) and recognizing brand partners for their role in the brand’s ongoing growth.

During his State of the Brand address Sept. 21, Certified Angus Beef President John Stika shared an overview of Certified Angus Beef products' status in the marketplace.

“What we have seen this past year, is that while fed cattle harvest has declined by 3% our licensed packers this year will certify 5.85 million carcasses, increasing supply by 1.2%,” Stika said. “This past year produced the second-largest volume of Certified Angus Beef carcasses in our history. That has been driven by the fact that today Angus cattle account for a record 71.5% of all fed cattle harvested.”

The brand also saw the acceptance rate for beef meeting its 10 science-based specification standards increase.

“In this past year, we saw a full percentage point increase in our acceptance rates, to the second-highest level ever,” he said. “We see today 36.2% of all cattle now going on to meet our 10 specifications for quality.”

In March of 2023, the brand’s acceptance rate surpassed the 40% threshold for only the third time in any given month in the Certified Angus Beef brand’s history, Stika said.

“That ultimately fueled the single-largest monthly supply of Certified Angus Beef carcasses — at more than 595,000 head — which ultimately resulted in product sales in March exceeding 112 million pounds of product to make March the third-best sales month in our entire history,” he said.

Despite food price pressures across segments, consumers continue to demonstrate their preference for premium products, with Certified Angus Beef Prime products growing sales by 14.3% to reach a record 40 million pounds. Certified Angus Beef Natural products’ sales fell by 4.1% to 4.5 million pounds.

“The available supply that was there as well as strong demand in spite of high prices gave many of you the opportunity to grow your sales over this past 12 months,” Stika said.  

Value-added products

•  The category enjoyed sales of 44 million pounds, with an 8.1% growth rate.
• It was the category’s third consecutive year of growth, with sales growing in nine of the past 11 years.
• Top-selling products were fully cooked smoked brisket, consumer packaged fresh and frozen patties, and fresh corned beef.

Retail

• Sales totaled 520 million pounds, and while sales declined 5.2% it marked the brand’s fifth consecutive year of sales surpassing 500 million pounds.
• A third of the brands top 25 retail chain partners experienced sales growth.
• Independent retail operators saw their sales grow 16%.

Foodservice

• The brand has experienced sales growth in 13 out of the past 14 years and has a 2.5% growth rate.
• Total sales weigh in at 415 million pounds.
• The brand’s products are sold at 123,000 restaurant locations, an increase of 10,000 (national chains not included).

International sales

• The brand’s international sales totaled 190 million pounds, a growth rate of 6.4%.
• The top 10 export markets were Canada, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and United Arab Emirates.
• Seven of the CAB’s top 10 markets grew by more than 33% combined.
• South Korea, Dominican Republic, China, Puerto Rico and the Cayman Islands all posted record imports of Certified Angus Beef products.