Northeast Lean Beef Sweepstakes Names a Winner

The winner of the “Livin' Lean. Lovin' Beef.” Sweepstakes, Brad Bergeron of Nashua, N.H., will receive a $250 Spa gift card and a $250 grocery shopping spree to his local Roche Bros. store, The Beef Checkoff Program has revealed. Bergeron's submission was one of more than 22,800 online entries, an increase of 21.8 percent from the entries received during last year's contest, part of the Centennial, Colo.-based checkoff's Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI). The promotion ran from Jan. 9- March 30 in 137 Northeast supermarkets.

“It's important to enjoy what you eat, and being happy makes you healthy,” said Bergeron, who learned online about the more than 29 cuts of beef that qualify as 'lean' by USDA standards, and found six lean-beef recipes. “I'd have to say my favorite cut to prepare is a minute steak,” he added.

Frank Vitale, meat director for Wellesley Hills, Mass.-based Roche Bros., which operates 18 stores in THE greater Boston area, emphasized the importance of promotions in boosting profits: “Beef drives sales, and it is important for department volume. It is also important because beef has a big 'quality tag' attached. If you have good-quality beef, then you will gain a good reputation overall.” Vitale opined that taking part in the 2012 New Year's beef promotion has helped his company raise consumer awareness of the entire meat case and Roche Bros.' product line.

“We hope to continue this momentum as we prepare to launch into the summer grilling season, when a similar promotion will be offered with a grand prize of a $500 shopping spree,” noted Christie Brown, director of retail and foodservice for the Bedford, Pa.-based NEBPI. “Runner-up prizes will include engraved 10-piece kitchen knife sets and copies of 'The Healthy Beef Cookbook.'”