United States-Veal promotion.

UNITED STATES-VEAL PROMOTION.

The new veal retail promotion, funded by the beef checkoff, has already exceeded its goal with three weeks left in the campaign. The Veal Made Easy Sweepstakes, launched Jan. 26, generated over 200,000 entries as of March 31, plus thousands of visits to the new Web site, VealMadeEasy.com. What’s more, over 18,000 consumers signed up to receive e-mails with veal recipes and special offers.

"In this economy, you have to be creative," says Ray Krones, chairman of the Joint Veal Committee and veal packer and producer from Gilman, Ill. "We knew that the sweepstakes prize, a year’s worth of free groceries, would capture people’s attention. But we were surprised by the number of consumers who opted in to receive e-mails from us – almost 10 percent of the entries. That tells us that people are really interested in veal."

The integrated campaign features the sweepstakes, a Fox TV and Web site promotion, and a partnership with Colavita Extra Virgin olive oil. Retailers were offered corner recipe stickers featuring the sweepstakes, and they can download customizable ad slicks and point-of-sale materials from the Web site under the tab, "Retailer Kit."

"This veal retail initiative has been industry-driven with valuable input received last July during the beef industry summer meetings," concludes Krones. "Already nine chains and 960 stores have participated with over a half a million recipe stickers distributed. There’s still time to participate, if retailers hurry. And we’ve got another promotion in the works."