The Consumer Beef Index assesses consumer perceptions about beef twice a year in order to support beef research, information and promotion programs. This report finds that beef consumption has been on the rise, a shift from previous years.

The Consumer Beef Index tracks consumer perceptions about beef by categorizing consumers into four segments based on whether they believe that the benefits of beef strongly or somewhat outweigh the negatives or whether the negatives strongly or somewhat outweigh the positives, and also by assessing consumer attitudes toward beef through 27 different variables.

Over the past several years, consumers had been eating less beef, though more recently in 2010, there is a noticeable shift toward eating more beef. This suggests a shift in consumer psyche from a negative perception of beef consumption to a positive perception of beef consumption. The Beef Board believes that this shift is due the success of checkoff programs that encompass promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, and marketing.