The stakes have never been higher for the beef industry. Grocery prices are at record highs amid a 75-year low in cattle inventory at American farms. President Donald Trump has authorized the import of hundreds of thousands of tons of beef from foreign markets, upsetting U.S. cattle ranchers. And the Justice Department recently launched a beef pricing probe targeting eight major retailers.

It is amid these turbulent times that the 109-year-old Omaha Steaks is debuting a new creative campaign called “No Bull,” which features an older male spokesperson to lean into the brand’s connotation as a popular gift intended for parents and grandparents during the holiday season. “No Bull” is also leaning much more aggressively into an overt, pro-America message that lauds Omaha Steaks’ “100% U.S. beef” claim, signaling more clearly to shoppers that the cattle are raised and hand-carved domestically.

“It’s not clear where you get your meat from,” Eric Johnson, Omaha Steaks’ chief marketing and digital officer, tells Fast Company. “And what we’ve heard from customers is that this is important.”

No bull, literally

The “No Bull” marketing push will run across linear and streaming television, as well as social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok, and influencer partnerships. It is the latest effort spearheaded by President and CEO Nate Rempe to juice more demand for the Nebraska-based company’s filet mignons, ribeyes, and chicken breasts. He has led Omaha Steaks since November 2023, the first-ever outsider to steer the meat delivery company outside the founding Simon family.

Millennial and Gen Z-aged consumers are especially keen to better understand the origin of their meat, according to Rempe. He lamented that current country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef products allowed foreign competitors to omit listing where their product was derived, though the rules could change after Trump signed an executive order on Friday that ordered the Department of Agriculture to explore new regulations that could mandate origin labeling.

“We’re kind of tired of the BS around all the information in the marketplace and in grocery about ground beef,” Rempe tells Fast Company. “We just haven’t been as vocal about it as we are in this ‘No Bull’ campaign.”

Selling its American roots

Omaha Steaks was founded in 1917 by a father-son duo that immigrated from Latvia to form the Table Supply Meat Company, initially selling to local restaurants and markets, but more famously is known as a direct-to-consumer seller of steaks through its catalog and more recently, the internet.

Peter Mullins, chief strategy officer at digital design and technology agency Huge, says Omaha Steaks can lean into some of the brand’s “underlying truths” as it pertains to its American heritage, rising demand for protein, and convenience.

“They could consider reframing around provenance,” Mullins tells Fast Company. “There’s an opportunity for them to take that more Americana heritage perception and connect with new, younger audiences in that way.”

External factors, like the elevated beef prices, have played a factor in how Omaha Steaks is reframing its pitch to shoppers. To that end, Omaha Steaks is in the process of changing how it communicates pricing on its website. Historically, the company would rely on flashy, promotional markdowns. But Rempe says Omaha Steaks learned consumers just want to see a clear, final price, rather than get enticed by discounting gimmicks.

Cutting 60% of the menu

Other changes spearheaded by Rempe include cutting 60% of the SKUs that Omaha Steaks sells. He’s keeping the classic, center-of-the-plate proteins like steak, chicken, and seafood, while ditching meal-kits, single-serve microwavable meals, and pineapple upside-down cake.

With 80% of the company’s revenue derived from just 20% of SKUs, “it really is logical that we would start to divest ourselves of some of the lower-turning SKUs and put that energy into innovating the more loved products,” says Rempe.

Omaha Steaks, which is family owned and privately held, declined to share its annual revenue or any detailed metrics about the company’s recent sales performance. Rempe says recent sales trends have been “roughly in line” with prior-year levels and that the moderation in demand aligns with what the beef industry has experienced.

Omaha Steaks has also invested in its digital operations to speed up the average delivery time from more than six days in early 2025 to just two days. In June, it also launched another major advertising campaign called “America’s Table,” which commemorated the nation’s 250th anniversary and was narrated by Oscar-winning actor Kevin Costner.

Americana is having a moment

Omaha Steaks’ patriotic pitch aligns with a prevailing marketing trend throughout 2026, with brands including Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and Budweiser leaning into similar messaging. It also has a nice ring to farmers like Steve Hanson, who runs a fifth-generation Nebraska farm with 1,300 cattle. More meat imported from Brazil and Argentina has been rattling the industry, though Hanson contends he and his peers aren’t afraid of the extra competition.

“The consumer in the United States still trusts American beef,” says Hanson. He says that has been more difficult to manage are the higher input costs that cattle ranchers are ingesting, as well as the closure of meat packaging plants that has made supply chains more difficult to manage and high retail prices.

“We’re seeing inflation creeping in against us; the cost of fuel, groceries, and day-to-day necessities are just a little bit higher than they used to be,” says Hanson. “That’s causing a little bit of a headwind.”