Amid the cacophony of the retail marketplace - partly due to, and in spite of, beefs high price compared to competing proteins - beef remains an essential centerpiece of the retail meat case.For one thing, beef's high relative price means that it rings the cash register longer and louder than other meats. In fact, according to the Cattlemen's Beef Board, beef accounted for more than 52% of the dollars spent for meat at retail in 2008.By way of comparison, chicken accounted for 22% of the dollars spent on meat at retail. In that same year, beef accounted for 39.3% of the pounds of meat purchased at retail.For another, consumers love beef. Though consumers traded down during the Great Recession, increas-ing their demand for ground beef and value cuts rather than middle meats, they appeared to trade away from beef entirely only as a last resort. In the last couple of years, beef demand has actually grown.
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