STUDENTS and kids in the kitchen are the focus of the next round of Meat & Livestock Australia’s ‘Red meat. Amazing food’ campaign, which highlights to consumers the nutritional benefits of eating red meat 3–4 times a week.
MLA’s General Manager – Marketing, Glen Feist said the latest ‘Red meat. Amazing food’ nutrition campaign takes a two-pronged approach – as one of the major sponsors of Junior MasterChef Australia and with a campaign targeting food and lifestyle media based around ideal diet choices for students during the end of year exam period.
“We are always looking for new opportunities to deliver the key messages about the nutritional benefits of red meat – that it contains five top quality essential nutrients: iron, zinc, omega-3, B vitamins and protein,” Mr Feist said.
“MLA’s sponsorship of Junior MasterChef Australia is an exciting opportunity, not only to promote the health benefits of beef and lamb to our younger generation, but to deliver MLA’s nutrition message to a much wider audience – currently an average 1.75 million viewers per episode.”
MLA will promote the nutritional benefits of beef and lamb through commercial breaks and a sponsor webpage on the Junior MasterChef Australia website, called ‘Feel Good Red Meat recipes’,” he said.
Alongside the Junior MasterChef Australia sponsorship, MLA is running a nutrition campaign focused on the end-of-year school exam period, specifically the HSC, and highlighting how critical nutrients found in red meat are required by the brain to help perform everyday activities such as thinking clearly and remaining alert.
MLA Marketing Manager – Nutrition, Veronique Droulez, said “It is well established that red meat is one of the best sources of iron and zinc, and that low levels of these nutrients can affect memory and attention levels.
Research also shows that iron deficiency is associated with fatigue, irritability and can affect the ability to concentrate and learn new information.”
“Students need to know that their brain needs good nutrition to work properly, with nutrients such as iron and zinc identified as being particularly important.”
MLA’s red meat nutrition marketing program seeks to increase domestic consumer expenditure on red meat by reinforcing the role of red meat in a healthy Australian diet.
A recent evaluation conducted by the Centre for International Economics found that the $43 million invested by MLA’s nutrition program (2001-07) maintained consumer and health care professional confidence in red meat, and is likely to have contributed substantially to increasing demand for beef and lamb.
