Brand Update 2019: Year in Review

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS …
OF THE BRAND
Specialists share their knowledge and passion for premium beef
Since those days as a line cook making his way up the restaurant ranks, Josh Ennis has loved the Certified
Angus Beef ® brand. Part of it was the quality reputation, of course. But since becoming a brand specialist
at Buckhead Meat Atlanta, he’s come to love it for the people behind it, especially the collection of other
specialists he gets to work with regularly.
“We function as a single unit, as a team, and that’s my favorite thing about working with the brand,”
Ennis shares. “It’s not just one man on the island—we’re all here to help one another.”
Ennis is one of 166 specialists in foodservice who take the time to learn about the brand and truly
understand every aspect. They play an integral role in the entire brand community’s success and are a
critical link in the chain.
“Specialists are our eyes and ears in the market, whether near or far. They are the reason we are able to gain so
much knowledge,” explains Gebran Charbine, the brand’s director of international and ethnic marketing. “Our
job isn’t just to raise demand for high-quality cattle. Our job is to empower these specialists.”
Through extensive training, regular communication with the brand’s team and thorough, ongoing
engagement, each specialist acts as a champion of the brand in their business. In turn, they help educate
and motivate their companies’ sales teams when engaging with restaurateur and chef customers and
explaining the brand’s benefits.
To do that, specialists create their own programs. Ennis, for example, invites customers to Buckhead’s cut
shop and hosts capsulized Master of Brand Advantages (MBA) training for new hires—all to teach both
groups about the very best Angus beef.
Beyond the focus on product quality and sales, specialists’ efforts promote the brand’s values, community
and relationship building, too. This year, in the same spirit of the community celebrations that took place
at the 40 barn paintings last year, Buckhead Atlanta hosted a celebration like a county fair when the
Certified Angus Beef ® brand logo was painted on its warehouse. Other events planned by specialists that
both engage the team and help educate them about the brand include food shows, themed customer
dinners, meat labs and ranch days.
So important is the specialist role, two of them are recognized annually for their dedication and focus
at the brand’s Foodservice Leaders Summit. The awards, New Performer of the Year and Specialist of
the Year, are symbols of the goals accomplished and sales increased—thanks to the group’s passion for
moving beef along its gate-to-plate journey.
“The specialist role is a big deal,” says Tom Propps, president of Sysco Columbia in South Carolina, proud
coworker of Adam Ballard, the 2019 New Performer of the Year.
Ballard, like all who are eligible for the award, has been a brand specialist less than two years, but managed
to make quite an impact in that short amount of time.
“Adam loves the Certified Angus Beef ® brand. He loves working with premium proteins and, most of all, he
loves working with our customers,” affirms Kris Davis, Sysco Columbia’s director of business resources.
“He’s dedicated to asking, ‘if you aren’t buying a Certified Angus Beef ® brand product, why aren’t you?’”
Neil Johnson of Sysco Montana, the 2019 Specialist of the Year, was recognized in part for his thoughtful
initiatives to keep his team and customers engaged.
2019 Brand Update 17