In This Issue:Foodservice
Advisory Council to Convene AEB PLANS SPECIAL BLITZES TO IMPROVE INDUSTRY ECONOMIC CONDITIONSIn an effort to improve demand during these times of severe economic
conditions for the egg industry, AEB is planning short, but important
promotional blitzes, for February and April to impact consumers and
encourage supermarket chains to feature eggs more often. Editors Love Eggs!
Why do newspaper food editors use AEB materials so extensively? Perhaps it's because, as one editor put it, "AEB doesn't make mistakes." She was referring to the fact that when her readers make AEB recipes, they can count on having all the ingredients properly listed and the instructions clear, so they don't have failures. Along with attractive photos and helpful copy, accurate recipes - which should be, but aren't always a factor in all food promotion materials - sets AEB materials above the rest. That may be why "You Can Bake a Pretty Pie,” AEB's latest color page encouraging egg ingredient usage through baking, is already a success. Though just recently released, this page of easy-to-make favorite pies has already been snapped up for use by 303 newspapers in 46 states, with a total audited circulation of 16,361,120. The space devoted to the material would cost $1,713,892 if AEB were to buy it rather than obtain it through publicity.
Also used extensively are AEB's black-and-white releases for weekly and smaller daily papers, the latest of which highlight easy baking and holiday brunch. To date in 2004, 10 Sunny Side Up articles provided to editors have achieved 2,056 placements, netting an estimated circulation of more than 4.2 million. When clippings are obtained for a full year after release, the equivalent ad value of the space for these features is over $1.7 million. Consumer Attitudes and Usage Research
Who eats the most eggs - families or older consumers? Will egg consumption be affected by the low-carb backlash? Are consumers aware of the many health benefits of eggs? The American Egg Board is looking to answer these questions and more with their 2005 Research Plan. Beginning this January, AEB will implement a five tiered research plan. This plan will start with perceptual mapping (focus groups and in-home interviews) and ethnography ("day in the life of" compilations). The research will also include Journal Entries (the thoughts and opinions from a panel of regular/heavy egg users), Tracking (online or mail survey), as well as Usage Data. The first report results will be available in March, and the final results will be completed in July. The American Egg Board regularly conducts research to evaluate consumer attitudes and usage of eggs in order to shape their messaging to drive eggs sales. The most recent research took place in 2002. Through this research, the American Egg Board will learn more about their strongest target audience and explore obstacles of increased consumption. The research will also shed light onto other motivating factors of egg consumption, such as nutritional benefits. In addition, this year's research should be particularly interesting because it will offer insight on how the changing trends of the American diet, including the low-carb phenomenon and the recent low-carb backlash, have affected attitudes towards and consumption of the incredible edible egg.
Creative EGGSpressions in the ClassroomElementary school students in 4th- through 6th-grade classrooms will soon be EGGSpressing what they've learned about eggs through AEB's new education materials, EGGSpress Yourself! Using modern technology, the program is a combination of sample print materials, a full-color, large-format poster, and a CD-ROM for both PCs and MACs which contains teacher lesson plans, student activity sheets, and Web links. Updated and new materials at www.aeb.org will add to the learning package.
Designed with the help of a 14-member teacher panel in a variety of educational specialty areas, the program is based on articles from the fictitious newspaper, the Daily EGGSpress - all incorporating language arts and creative thinking. Consumer education, health/fitness, social studies (including multi-cultural), history, geography, food science, and math are also covered through hands-on lessons geared to newspaper sections:
The final lesson, a special supplement, requires students to review the egg knowledge they've discovered through research and share the facts by presenting their findings to others through writing articles, preparing publications, and/or conducting events. Beginning at the end of November 2004 and continuing into 2005, the EGGSpress Yourself! program will be direct mailed to all the largest schools nationally which have 4th- through 6th-grade student computer facilities. The 2004 mailing will cover more than 24,000 schools with 500+ students and the 2005 mailing, over 27,500 schools with 300 to 499 students, for a total distribution of almost 52,000 schools out of a universe of almost 81,600. AEB Begins Eggsploring the Promotion of Eggs and PetsWhile great strides have been made encouraging individuals to consume eggs due to their wealth of health benefits, AEB is starting to laying the groundwork for a new market promoting eggs for pets. AEB will begin conducting market research aimed at learning about the beliefs of key influencers in the veterinarian, zoo, and dog breeding communities. Consumer research will also be gathered in order to provide direction for message refinement utilizing research results to focus on the populations that will be most responsive to the eggs for pets campaign. In tandem with conducting market research, AEB will establish a scientific advisory panel comprised of expert veterinarians and dog breeders in order to begin opening a dialog between the egg industry and scientific opinion leaders in the pet field. This panel will enable AEB to work within and through a group that significantly influences its peers, the media, and consumers. Due to the resurgence in popularity, eggs have already begun to filter into the pet food market. Ralston Purina includes protein from egg in Purina Puppy Chow, because according to them, it provides the best nutrient values such as high-quality protein, vitamins, fat, and minerals. Important in promoting overall proper development, high-quality protein may be lacking in the diet of some dogs unless they are fed premium dog food. By incorporating eggs into their diet, pets can be provided with an inexpensive and convenient source of high-quality protein. Foodservice Advisory Council to ConveneThe annual meeting of the Foodservice Advisory Council will take place November 16-17, 2004 in Charleston, SC. This Council provides information on changing trends and foodservice egg usage while identifying future opportunities. A group of nine foodservice experts from all segments of the industry will be meeting in a roundtable discussion format to provide recommendations that will be used in the development of current and future programs. Advisory members include:
AEB Brushes Gold with Olympic Champion
Natalie Coughlin not only knows a thing or two about swimming, she is also a gourmet chef. Just in time for the holidays, Natalie will once again team up with AEB, this time using her culinary skills to show America how to cook with eggs to create nutritional holiday fare. We watched in glory as America’s golden girl won a total of five medals in Athens: two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal, leveraging her as only the sixth woman to win five medals in a single Olympic Games. Riding this glory, Natalie will conduct a satellite media tour (SMT) for AEB during which she will feature her own holiday egg recipes, along with some AEB favorites. During the SMT, Natalie will announce that a recipe booklet with her recipes and those of AEB will be available in a PDF version, which can be downloaded from fueledbyeggs.com, AEB’s Olympic website. Fueledbyeggs.com was developed to coordinate with AEB’s “Think Fast, Think Eggs” advertising slogan and to emphasize eggs as fast fuel and a great source of high-quality protein for healthy active Americans. AEB’s holiday SMT with Natalie will create a new and timely reason for consumers to continue visiting the site. Since the Olympic swimming trials, the fueledbyeggs.com website has been considered a superior nutritional resource, and it is still driving new visitors. Stay tuned for details from this eggciting event! Register Today for National Retail Workshop - December 1 & 2Time is running out to register for the American Egg Board’s National Retail Workshop. There is a wealth of new information available to help you maximize egg sales and profitability, particularly during difficult economic times. The workshop will include a retailer panel providing their overall corporate marketing strategies followed by an open question and answer session. There will also be a consumer focus group to learn about today’s shopper , as well as interactive marketing sessions and speakers on the latest egg category research. The workshop is being held at the Embassy Suites O’Hare Hotel. There is a reduced registration rate of $150 for the workshop if you register before November 19. After November 19, the rate is still only $195. For more information on the workshop, contact Maryanne Crandell at AEB (847-296-7043) or email at Mcrandell@aeb.org. Foodservice Recipe Contest Awards Presented
Two Grand Prize awards in the Global Flavors Foodservice Recipe Contest 2004 were presented during the AEB meeting in Palm Springs, CA. Making the presentation to the two award winners was Kurt Kreher, Kreher’s Poultry Farms, Clarence, NY and Consumer Education/ Foodservice Committee Chairman. The Grand Prize Award in the Student Division of the contest was presented to Erick Palacios, culinary arts student at Glendale Community College in Glendale, CA. Erick’s recipe for “Wine Poached Eggs on Polenta with Ratatouille” won the $1,000 Grand Prize for this creative Mediterranean-inspired dish. In anticipation of receiving his culinary arts certificate at the end of this year, Erick aspires to be a culinary arts instructor. In the Professional Division of the contest, the Grand Prizewinner was Tim Vallery, Executive Chef at the Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club in Santa Rosa, CA. Chef Vallery is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. For this contest, he developed a unique recipe for “Mediterranean Asparagus Torta with Caper & Sun-Dried Tomato Relish” capturing the $2,000 Grand Prize. Chef Vallery’s recipe will be featured in the new Foodservice advertising campaign that will be debuting in early 2005. | |||||||||||||||||
