CAB® 3QQ
Three quick questions with Mary McMillen.
Mary McMillen
Certified Angus Beef LCC (CAB) is a food company, with its fair share of experts in that field. There's the culinary team, meat scientists and people with backgrounds in foodservice, retail and packing. Surrounded by all that expertise, it might be surprising that the company's director of consumer marketing got her first taste of home economics (a degree she'd later earn from what's now Ashland University) mastering a needle and thread.
Mary McMillen jokes that she's a country girl stuck in a city girl's body and tells of how she joined 4-H — where she learned to sew — so she could "hang out with the ag kids." But she didn't spend that much time in the kitchen until her career path brought out her passion for food. She moved to New York and traveled extensively while working with TV food personality Burt Wolf. But after that and an 18-year gig at Ohio-based, CAB-licensed Buehler's Fresh Foods, she feels like she's come home.
After all, her dad was a career meat man, and her first "real" summer job was working in the packaging department at a meat processor.
So what does this self-described "foodie" do at CAB, and why does it matter to you? We asked her three quick questions.
A major part of your role is directing the brand's culinary team. Who are the star players? Tell us a little about them.
It's critical for us to have chefs on board who can represent the brand. It gives us a high level of credibility. Currently we have three, and they've all been with us for more than two years. We have Chef Scott Popovic, who has fine-dining training and is particularly geared to work with professional chefs at the restaurant level.
We have Chef Michael Ollier who has really carved out a niche as the consumer chef. He's particularly good in relating to consumer audiences and does a lot of work with our retail partners.
Then Chef Kyle Miller brings another really interesting perspective. He's trained not only as a chef, but also as a butcher. That combination works really well with retail in particular, but also his expertise applies to foodservice.
And all three of them excel with the media.
We are very fortunate to have three very talented guys, who are also "un-chef-like" in the fact that they play really well in each other's sandboxes. Their cubicles are really close together, and you'll hear them yell over the wall, "What do you think about that?" It's great that they have that shared enthusiasm and camaraderie.
So these three chefs crisscross the country, representing the brand to consumers and to other chefs and food professionals. What are some of the other ways CAB is reaching those in the culinary community?
We have expanded our partnership with the James Beard Foundation, which supervises the James Beard House. It's like what the Grand Ole Opry is to traditional country music. We are now the official beef purveyor there. Let's say you have been invited — and you have to be invited — to cook at the James Beard House. You will be given a packet that says, "If you choose to use beef, we ask you to consider the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand." That's not to say you're not allowed to use other beef, but that's the one that's in the forefront, and we'll be happy to provide beef to those chefs who choose to use it. That's a wonderful door-opening opportunity.
If we've not connected with that chef before, we can call and say, "Hi, this is Chef Scott with Certified Angus Beef. I see you're going to use our product …" It gives us a common denominator with these chefs.
We were also a sponsor for the James Beard Foundation Awards in May. That's like the Academy Awards for foodies. We were excited to have a presence there, both with food sampling and logos.
Then we've reached out to two of the largest culinary institutes. We're actively pursuing the opportunities we have with education and not promotion. We're doing everything from sponsoring scholarships and helping with meat labs to taking the college leadership on ranch, feedlot and packing plant tours.
Of course, the main goal is getting that product in their hands. We're not saying, "CAB: You have to buy it." We're saying make the decision for yourself. We're going to educate you. We're going to tell you about the brand. You're going to cut the brand against other beef. We're going to let the brand speak for itself.
Your team is working with people most of our producer owners will never meet, in places that many of them will never visit. Can you put that in perspective?
It's with great pride and humility that I do what I do. I try to keep in perspective that everything we do here at Certified Angus Beef is on behalf of those 30,000 farmers and ranchers. Everything we do is representing those hard-working folks. That feeling transcends the entire culinary team. That's very much at the forefront of our mission, to increase awareness of Angus cattle and all the ways they stand out.
Mary's country-girl dreams came true seven years ago when she got her first horse. She and her husband, Jon, live in Wooster.
