US markets tenderness to improve beef prices

US cattle numbers have dropped back to levels last seen in 1952. But the industry is making up to £45 a head more on a beef carcass at wholesale prices by guaranteeing tenderness, for which consumers are willing to pay a significant premium.

This has been achieved through a new approach to measuring tenderness and by adopting butchery techniques which cut out muscles rather than cutting through them, said Professor Chris Calkins of the University of Nebraska at the EBLEX Annual Conference.

The developments had been prompted by falling domestic demand and profitability. Heavier carcass weights were also a challenge – these had gone from an average of 308kg to 354kg in the past 20 years.

“It’s about identifying the character and value of each muscle and getting the best value for it,” said Prof Calkins.

Camera technology measuring marbling in the rib eye muscle meant that tenderness could be guaranteed in many carcasses. If the rib eye measured tender, there were at least nine other muscles that could be guaranteed tender, some of them even more tender than a fillet, Prof Calkins added.

However, because of the “hunk and chunk” cutting approach of traditional butchery, many of these were usually lost to the mincer, he said. For example, almost nine times out of 10 the shoulder clod cut was minced, but it contained the second most tender muscle in the carcass. Adopting the new cutting techniques meant a total of 63kg of guaranteed tender meat in a 362kg carcass.

This is allowing new steak and other cuts to be developed and new products to be developed. In the USA these have been introduced through the foodservice industry rather than in supermarkets and are backed by US Department of Agriculture certification.