An overnight success 40 years in the making. While that might be a bit of a stretch, it’s not far off the mark either. That’s what the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand celebrated Sept. 26-28 in Maui—40 years of proving that branded beef has a place in the beef marketing chain and 40 years of proving that setting the bar high and holding true to yourself and your standards will, in the end, prove successful. Remarkably successful, in fact.

But it hasn’t always been that way. Early in its existence, Angus breeders and the American Angus Association came to a crossroads with what to do with this novel idea of selling branded beef backed by strict quality standards. When it came to a decision, CAB survived by one vote.

Since then, CAB has proven the ¬ behind a brand name and has set records for 12 years running. Here’s a gallery of scenes from the CAB annual conference, a place where producers and packers conversed with distributors, chefs, grocery store retailers and restaurants to achieve their common goal—sell more beef.