Safeway, Harris Teeter, Broulim's Fresh Foods, and Haggen and TOP Food & Drug received National Retail Beef Backer awards, funded by the Beef Checkoff Program. The awards, given since 2006, recognize retail efforts to promote beef at the point of sale and give the cattle industry an opportunity to "say thank you to retailers that are blazing new trails in the meat case and making beef more accessible to their consumers both through checkoff-funded programs and their own innovative marketing and merchandising efforts," said Margie Hande, chairwoman of the checkoff's retail committee.