Beef. It's What's For Dinner. rang true in 2018 as beef prices remained strong and consumers regularly visited the meat case. According to the latest retail sales data from IRI/​Freshlook, demand is up 15% since 2012.

Strong consumer demand is expected to continue into 2019, with the USDA predicting consumers in the United States will eat 8.9% more beef this year than in 2015. Much of the meat's demand is driven by ground beef and loin cuts, which are particularly popular with consumers at the grocery store.

It's a personal goal of 37.3% of Burger Restaurant Diners to save money in the coming year, according to AudienceSCAN. So, they're looking for deals. In the past month, 47.6% of these consumers used the internet to find coupons or discount codes and, within the past six months, 32.2% used a mobile device to redeem or download a coupon. Last year, 48.3% took action because of ads they saw on daily deal sites, such as Groupon.

Not only are consumers eating more beef, they are also enjoying more high-​quality products. This is due to more cattle in the U.S. herd grading higher than ever before.

"Cattle farmers and ranchers, and the entire beef industry, have worked particularly hard during the past 10 years to produce higher-​quality beef, and that work is clearly paying off with increased consumer demand," said Bridget Wasser, Executive Director of Meat Science & Supply Chain Outreach for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff. "We're seeing demand for USDA Choice and Prime beef grow, signaling consumer desire for a higher-​quality product. An increase in the size of the U.S. cattle herd paired with a higher-​quality beef supply shows the industry is responding."

Beef demand isn't only strong at retail. Ninety-​seven percent of food service establishments report having it on the menu, which has been shown to increase restaurant traffic by 45 percent.

From restaurants to retail, consumers clearly want beef on their plates. With supply on the upswing and consumer demand increasing, the beef industry is gaining momentum, and this trend looks to show no signs of slowing down in 2019.

Both restaurants and grocery stores can appeal to beef lovers, such as Burger Restaurant Diners, through all kinds of advertisements. Digitally, last year, this audience took action after receiving email ads (50.8%) and either receiving text message ads or seeing ads on their mobile smartphone apps, according to AudienceSCAN. They're also 11% more likely than other adults to click on text link ads on websites. When it comes to traditional ads, last year, 66.7% took action after seeing TV commercials and 61.5% reacted to direct mail ads or coupons.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.