FY 2014

a n n u a l r e p o r t

American Lamb Board Mission To increase the value of American Lamb for all segments contributing to the American Lamb Checkoff Program.

Strategic Initiatives• Increase consumer awareness about the benefits of American Lamb and influence consumers to increase their purchase frequency

• Minimize the volatility of seasonal sales and encourage year-round utilization of the whole carcass

• Maintain and expand market share in traditional foodservice and retail markets

• Build new markets/new customers

• Protect and enhance the image and credibility of lamb and the American Lamb industry

• Gather research data and evaluate programs

American Lamb Board Vision A unified, thriving American Lamb industry that concentrates its resources around a prioritized and measurable plan that fosters the opportunity for profitability for all contributors.

Promotion $1,608,753

Research $346,949

Communications $332,589

USDA $52,859

Administration $174,101

Total Expenses $2,515,251

Your Board Dan Lippert,

Chairman

Ben Lehfeldt, Vice Chairman

Cody Hiemke, Secretary

Butch Theos, Treasurer

Greg Ahart

Reed Anderson

Antonio Manzanares

Joanne Nissen

Wes Patton

Diane Peavey

Jim Percival

Betty Sampsel

Leo Tammi

Dale Thorne

Your StaffMegan Wortman,Executive Director

Rae Maestas,Program Manager

Tyler Winograd,Marketing Coordinator

For copies of the complete audited financial report, visit www.lambcheckoff.com.

2014 Financials

3515 S. Tamarac Drive Suite 130

Denver, CO 80237

866.327.LAMB (5262)

www.americanlamb.com

Letter From The Chairman

Trying to share everything that the

American Lamb Board (ALB) has been working on this past year makes my head spin, and would make this report incredibly long. To sum it up: we have seen historic collaboration within the industry, with intense focus on very specific steps that can lead to the kind of future we all want for our families, our businesses and our industry as a whole.

The best way to summarize what happened with your support is a top 10 list of the ALB’s 2014 achievements:

• A new city—Austin, Texas—was added to the wildly successful Lamb Jam Tour

• We’ve seen significant progress in sheep industry collaboration

• We unveiled a new logo and branding for the American Lamb Board; check out www.americanlamb.com

• A new ethnic marketing toolkit helped target the growing Hispanic and Muslim markets

• We supported the installation of electronic grading in three major lamb plants

• We debuted an easy, approachable “Curriculamb” campaign with new recipes and videos

• We kicked off the first promotions in the Middle East for American Lamb

• We conducted a direct marketing study

• We funded a lamb quality audit and demand study

• We’ve enjoyed the continued support of our industry partners

We take seriously the trust placed in the board by the entire sheep industry, and target the resources you provide for maximum long-term gains. Many of the new initiatives were promoted by the roadmap committees, where people from across the industry—from producers and packers, seed stock suppliers and sheep shearers, to researchers and retailers—put their heads together. We have collectively charted a course to achieve something that has eluded us for decades: genuine growth in the sheep business. I’m convinced that with this shared vision, and the shared heavy lifting that follows, we will succeed.

Thank you for your continued financial support of the American Lamb Board—it makes our efforts in research, promotion and information gathering possible. Just as importantly, thank you for your input and involvement, which ensures our collective efforts are on track.

Best,Dan Lippert

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9

6 New easy and approachable

“Curriculamb” campaign, including new recipes

and videos

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5 Electronic Grading—supporting

technology in three plantsn o

Direct Marketing Study

Quality Audit and

Demand Study10 >>>

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8

Support for a plan to expand the use of NSIP/genetics

Year in Review2014 was a year of progress, partnership and new programs. Thanks to continued industry support and the assessment increase the American Lamb Board has expanded their role beyond traditional marketing and promotions to help support additional industry needs and priorities. We not only continue to promote American Lamb but also work to support the industry through the roadmap initiatives and strategies,

highlighted here in this top 10 list. 7First US Meat Export Federation (USMEF)

promotions in the Middle East

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New Market: Austin, Texas1

Roadmap Progress

Ethnic Marketing Toolkit

>>>>>>

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alb’sThe

top

list...

*Datassentials study

Lamb is the fastest-grow

ing protein on chain menus*

The ALB distributed six seasonal national recipe releases, resulting in

2,000 placements that reached more than 300 million consumers*all statistics according to a new consumer usage and attitude study

More than 50% of consumers would be

willing to pay a premium for American Lamb

71% of consumers would prefer to

purchase American Lamb over imported

Bon Appétit’s article “15 Foods College Students Should Try” ranked lamb as number nine with a callout to “Do yourself a flavor favor and swap out beef for lamb”

Locally sourced meat and seafood was cited as the number one trend on the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot in 2014” chef survey

Lamb pounds sold at retail increased more than 6% in FY 2014 compared to FY 2013

LAMB6% Central

Market Retail Promotion in Austin, Texas, increased lamb sales by 60%

60%

The ALB distributed over 50 holiday

lamb packages to top food editors

for ewe

The ALB partnered with bloggers to promote American Lamb for

summer grilling; the blog posts reached more than

450,000 consumers

LAMB

American Lamb NYC media tour met with five top foodie publications: Bon Appétit,

Epicurious, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping and Saveur

Building Preference for American Lamb*

On fine dining menus, 22% of operators specify domestic lamb on their menu compared to only 9% of

operators that specify imported

Building Awareness and Demand for Lamb

1#

American Lamb Around the Country

Austin• Food & Wine Festival• Food Bloggers Conference

Kansas CityFarm Broadcasters

IndianapolisTaste of Indiana Farms

HamiltonDine Around

College StationNAMA

Louisville• FFA• Kentucky State Fair

JeffersonWisconsin Sheep and Wool FestivalHuron

SD BBQ Championships

Fargo• NDSU BBQ Bootcamp• Fargo Fiber & Art Festival

CharlestonChefs Collaborative

RembertOld McCaskill Farm Day & Cooking Competition

NYC• International Restaurant & Foodservice Show• Media tour

Rhinebeck• New York State Sheep and Fiber FestivalDenver

Chef Summit

LafayettePeach Festival (Lamb Booth)

MeekerMeeker Classic

IdahoTrailing of the Sheep Festival

SacramentoNLFA Leadership School

HumboldtHumboldt County Fair

Menlo ParkSunset Magazine Luncheon

SonomaWine Country Big Q

Seattle• Street Food Festival• Shepherd to Chef Media Dinner• Food and Wine Experience• Lamb Jam

The American Lamb Board works to build awareness about American

Lamb across the country by participating in conferences and

events targeting chefs, distributors, consumers, media and retailers.

San Luis ObispoSavor the Central Coast (Lamb Jam Masters)

Boston• Media Dine Around—20 local food writers, 3 chefs, a butcher and a shepherd• Industry Field Day—30 chefs touring lamb farm• Red, White and Ewe Lamb Cookout• Taste of the Nation, Portland, ME• Gourmet Tailgating Class• Boston Restaurant Week Promotion• Lamb Jam

San Francisco• Eat. Drink. SF• Eat Real Fest• Lamb Jam

Loudoun CountyFarm Tour

Patrick SpringsLambstock ChesapeakeWaterways Heritage Festival

ChicagoWomen Chefs & Restaurateurs

WaterlooSouthern Illinois Sheep and Craft Tour

ColfaxIowa Sheep & Wool Festival

FlorenceHandy Music Festival

DC• DC Food Fight• Sips and Supper• Lamb Jam• James Beard Dinners

Frederick, MDFrederick County in the Streets Festival

RingoesGarden State Sheep Breeders Sheep Festival

SalemOregon State Fair

BrownsvilleWillamette Music Festival

MercerMercer County Fair & Farm Tour

WaynesburgWaynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival

Ohio• Cincinnati Local Lamb Jam• Columbus Local Lamb Jam

Expanding Our Reach with Key Partners

The ALB plays a key role in many research projects throughout the year that benefit the industry.

Quality audit: Funded an audit to benchmark lamb-quality issues; results will be available in 2015

Nutritional analysis: Grain- and grass-fed lamb retail cuts are being analyzed to update the US lamb nutritional data

Supporting electronic grading: Co-funded the installation of electronic grading systems in three of the largest lamb packing plants in the US

NSIP Re-Launch Project: Funded work to design a plan to increase awareness of NSIP as an improved genetic tool and to increase use of the technology

Developed relationships with five new chef Lambassadors and secured 10 new chef-developed recipes and representation at events across the country

Enjoyed our eighth year of collaborating with the Tri-Lamb Group on the Nutrition Education Campaign

Partnered with J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines for a hot summer grilling promotion: American Lamb coupon and recipe on J. Lohr wine bottles in grocery stores in five markets throughout the summer

The Tri-Lamb Group co-hosted an exclusive event in New York City with the National Mango Board to launch a new health-focused cookbook, Eating in Color. Over 25 top-tier food and nutrition editors and writers attended and sampled lamb recipes.

Supporting Research, Education and Industry Roadmap Initiatives

Demand study: Updated to track the progress of the American Lamb Board’s programs

Targeting a diverse consumer base: Created a toolkit to help industry and retailers merchandise lamb to Muslim and Hispanic consumers

Marketing Advisory Council: Created a new group to improve collaboration with industry suppliers

Direct marketing study: Conducted a study to better understand direct/non-traditional lamb marketing and assess the needs of this growing sector in our industry; results will help the ALB develop relevant tools and resources to help support direct marketers

Expanding Usage of American Lamb

Other highlights from the digital world:

The American Lamb Board:

Developed 12 new simple consumer recipes and four new cooking technique videos

Created a “Curriculamb” campaign and collateral to drive messages about education

Hosted an educational lamb seminar and farm tours in four markets

Hosted a chef summit to explore uses of lamb and mutton

Lamb menu items beyond the rack and beyond the center of the plate are increasing**Datassentials

Social/digital followers: 2013 vs. 2014

Facebook:8,900 vs. 12,600

Twitter:2,400 vs. 3,400

Number of people who visited www.americanlamb.com

more than2 million

Number of followers for the ALB’s new Instagram account500

Number of consumers reached by Facebook ads 700,000

Promotions with various restaurant groups led to more than 22,000 American Lamb dishes served during the promotions

22,000

More than 6,000 chefs and more than 20,000 consumers received educational quarterly American Lamb newsletters

The ALB reached more than 5,000 foodservice buyers, restaurateurs, chefs and culinary educators at various events and conferences

$80,000+ raised in ticket sales

$5,000 donated to local charities$

64 chefs created innovative lamb dishes

50+ local partners and sponsors helped make the tour a success

4 cities + local chefs + butchers + local shepherds + local media + consumers = lamb extravaganza

2,000 consumers participated in Lamb Jam

Highlights from the Fifth Annual

The ALB provides valuable services and programs to the industry.

Helping the Industry Promote American Lamb

Funded 32 local lamb events and promotions across the US through the Industry Sponsorship Program

AlabamaCaliforniaColorado

IllinoisIndianaIowa

KentuckyMaryland

MassachusettsMontana

New Jersey

New YorkNorth Dakota

OhioOregon

PennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth Dakota

TexasUtah

VirginiaWisconsin

Through the ALB Supplier Co-op Program, six supplier

partnerships accounted for an additional $140,015 in shared American Lamb promotions

Over 50,000 recipe brochures distributed

for industry events

Industry partners can track market trends

through Quarterly Market News and Quarterly Fresh

Look Retail Sales Data

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Checkoff Program

Texas A&M conducted an ROI study to measure the overall effectiveness of the American Lamb Checkoff and the return on investment by sector. The results:

$

= $14.40For every dollar invested into the ALB (2002–2013),

the industry received $14.40 in additional profits

American Lamb, from pasture to plate.

866.327.LAMB (5262) // www.americanlamb.com

About the American Lamb BoardThe American Lamb Board (ALB) is an industry-funded research and promotions commodity board that represents all sectors of the American Lamb industry, including producers, feeders, seed stock producers and processors. The 14-member board, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, is focused on increasing demand by promoting the freshness, flavor, nutritional benefits and culinary versatility of American Lamb. The work of the ALB is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the board’s programs are supported and implemented by the staff in Denver, Colorado.