This summer beef lovers travelled the state enjoying burgers, steaks, and roasts as part of the 2024 Nebraska Beef Passport campaign. Two lucky winners received top prize rewards for their participation in the program.
BettyLou Lang of Lincoln and Sherron Chard of Columbus were selected to receive $250 beef bundles provided by the Nebraska Beef Council and the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors. Participants in the Beef Passport program received an entry into the prize drawing for each check-in (beef purchase) made at a stop on this year’s pass. Two random names were selected from the entries as the grand prize winners.
Lang and her husband, William, completed 50 stops on this year’s pass. Chard and her husband, Matthew, made it to a dozen stops during their travels.
“We use this as our vacation each year. We’ve travelled all over Nebraska,” said Lang. “One of our favorite stops was in Tilden at the Branding Iron Grill. They had one of the best hot beef sandwiches that was served with mashed potatoes and cream corn. It was delicious!”
The beef passport encouraged Nebraskans and tourists to visit 32 restaurants and 19 meat processors across the state to enjoy a beef meal or stock up on their favorite beef items. Participants collected points at each stop that could be redeemed for prizes offered by the Nebraska Beef Council. The program was launched May 1 and concluded on September 30. Nearly 2,000 check-ins were recorded during the 19-week promotion with participants from over 140 communities and eight different states.
“We’ve really seen people embracing the new digital format of the Beef Passport,” said Adam Wegner, director of marketing for the Nebraska Beef Council. “With the pass conveniently set up on your mobile device, it makes collecting points extremely easy and allows users to redeem their points for prizes at any time during the promotion.”
Beef Passport participants who collected at least 500 points (visited 5 locations) could choose from a variety of individual prizes that included Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner branded dish towels, cutting boards, steak seasoning and more. Over 100 prizes were distributed throughout the duration of the campaign with a special bonus prize awarded to 18 Hall of Fame members who recorded 30 or more check-ins.
“We’ve done the wine passport, the tourism passport and now the beef passport,” said Matthew Chard. “One of our favorite stops was at the Wahoo Locker. It’s like a candy store for adults. Their beef sticks and hot dogs are amazing.”
Plans for the 2025 Nebraska Beef Passport are underway including new stop locations and additional prizes in celebration of the program’s 5th year. For additional information about the Nebraska Beef Passport visit www.GoodLifeGreatSteaks.org.