blackfoot-valley

One of the company’s newest customers, easily the largest single ac- count to date and the most exciting to everyone involved, is the nationwide 500 - store restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday’s, which now buys all its ground beef from Meyer Natural Angus. After “Friday’s” ran a thorough testing program on beef from various sources, John Gilbert, senior vice-president of marketing for T.G.I. Friday’s parent company Carlson Restaurants, explained that taste was decisive in his firm’s settling on Meyer Natural Angus. “This was a direct response to our guests’ desire for great-tasting food made with the finest in- gredients. When you think of innovation, words like high-tech and futuristic often come to mind. But sometimes innovation means looking back to a time when ranchers raised their animals without antibiotics or artificial growth hor- mones.” T.G.I. Friday’s gave Meyer Natural Angus the account in April 2001 and has been serving its beef since July of that year. Regarding this, the restau- rant’s placemats proudly enthuse: “Less than 1% of U.S. cattle meet their exacting standards. They can trace the family tree of every single steer and explain in mind-numbing detail why superior Angus bloodlines translate to superior tasting beef.” As a result of its ongoing marketing efforts for a product whose time seems to have come, the Meyer Natural Angus production of beef doubled during calendar year 2000 and doubled once more in 2001, remarkable in a market that has been rather static for many years on account of increasing competition from other food sources. Meyer Natural Angus is aiming at the quality market, and there will always be a place for better quality when those who see the possibilities cre- atively pursue them with persistence and imagination. 191