Concerns about “Pink Slime” in Beef Impact Americans’ Behavior, Says Study Commissioned by Red Robin
April 04 2012 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
Despite industry and government efforts to manage the
controversy, concerns about so-called “pink slime” in the nation’s
beef supply are influencing decisions about what they buy and eat,
says a new poll from Red Robin® restaurants, a leading
casual-dining brand, recently conducted online by Harris
Interactive among over 2,000 U.S adults age 18 and older.
After receiving hundreds of guest inquiries at Red Robin’s
headquarters and in many of the company’s 460+ restaurants in North
America, Red Robin, which has never served beef containing the
ingredient, enlisted Harris Interactive, Inc. to conduct a poll on
the “pink slime” issue.
In the study commissioned by Red Robin, 88% of U.S. adults are
aware of the “pink slime” issue. Among those who were aware, when
asked, “How concerned are you about the filler used in ground beef
referred to in news stories as ‘pink slime’?,” 76% indicated that
they were “at least somewhat concerned,” with 30% stating they were
“extremely concerned.” Also, more than half (53%) of those saying
they were aware of the issue took some action as a result,
including researching the brands of ground beef they purchase at
the grocery store and/or researching the ground beef used by
restaurant brands where they eat (24%). 22% said they’ve either
decreased and/or stopped altogether their consumption of foods
using ground beef in restaurants, and 25% said they’ve either
decreased and/or stopped altogether their purchases of ground beef
from grocery stores.
“Red Robin has had to repeatedly assure our guests that we have
never purchased or served beef containing the so-called ‘pink
slime,’” said Steve Carley, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers chief
executive officer. “While this kind of processed beef has been used
for many years, the Harris Interactive poll shows that consumer
fears are very real, and they’re not ready to let them just fade
away. This underscores that our industry simply must do a better
job of communicating the facts, educating consumers and regaining
consumer trust in the quality of the food they buy. At Red Robin,
we’ll continue to assure our guests that the quality of the food we
buy and serve is a top priority.”
Red Robin’s ground beef patties are made from fresh,
American-grown beef, with no added preservatives, fillers or
artificial ingredients.
About Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB)
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (www.redrobin.com), a casual
dining restaurant chain founded in 1969 that operates through its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Red Robin International, Inc., is the
gourmet burger expert, famous for serving more than two dozen
craveable, high-quality burgers with Bottomless Steak Fries® in a
fun environment welcoming to guests of all ages. In addition to its
many burger offerings, Red Robin serves a wide variety of salads,
soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts and signature Mad Mixology®
Beverages. There are more than 460 Red Robin® restaurants located
across the United States and Canada, including corporate-owned
locations and those operating under franchise agreements. Red
Robin… YUMMM®! Connect with Red Robin on Facebook and Twitter.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States
between March 29 – April 2, 2012 among 2,222 adults (aged 18 and
over) by Harris Interactive on behalf of Red Robin via its Quick
Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity,
education, region and household income were weighted where
necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in
the population.
Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’
propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use
probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error
which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate,
including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with
nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response
options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible
sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted,
random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical
because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who
have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data
have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult
population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to
participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
For complete survey results, please contact Nadine Brewer at
502-262-6134.
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