Meat Merchandizing

Supermarkets

• Sell far more meat than any other market type

• Self- and full-service options

Butcher Shops

• Unwrapped, glass-fronted display cases of meat

• Personnel cut, weigh, package, and price the item of choice

• Sometimes include a small-scale slaughter facility

• Sell carcasses to consumers

• Perceived to provide unusual freshness and uniqueness in meat products

Convenience Stores

• Convenience

• Limited to vacuum packaged processed meats

• Important meat merchandizing outlet

Specialty Shops

• Offer unique palatability items

  • Country cured hams, jerky, dry sausage, buffalo, venison, elk, game birds

• Often sell meat through catalogs and the internet

General cutting guidelines

• Lean cuts from fat cuts

• Thick from thin

• Tender from less tender

Standardized ____ and ____ is a prerequisite for good merchandizing

Cutting; nomenclature

Where do more tender cuts come from on the body? Why is this?

Loin and rib; supportive muscles with smaller myofibril diameter

Where do less tender cuts come from on the body? Why is this?

Leg; locomotive muscles with greater myofibril diameter

The names of retail cuts are normally associated with what bodily structure?

Bone

URMIS

Uniform Retail Meat Identity Standards

• Provides a numerical retail meat cut identification system and standardized nomenclature for every red meat item

Why was URMIS created?

To eliminate consumer confusion caused by multiple names used to describe singular meat cuts

URMIS vs IMPS

URMIS is for retail meat cuts and the consumer, IMPS is for wholesale and institutional meat products

• URMIS is how a cut is named at retail; IMPS is how a cut is specified when it’s bought and sold wholesale.

What amount of fat to retailers target for on the surface of a meat cut?

0.10 inches or less

Retailers rarely leave more than ___ inch of fat on the surface of a meat cut

0.25

What is labelling used to communicate? Which of these factors are necessary to include?

• Price, quantity, sell-by dates

• Species, subprimal and retail cut name

• Proper handling for safety

• Nutritive value

• Plant processing information

• Company name (rarely the actual company… e.g. Cargill)

  • All above factors are necessary

Common/Traditional Beef Label

• Food/Diet — Grain finish

• Vaccines — Yes

• Growth Hormones/Technology — Yes

Pasture/Grass Fed Beef Label

• Food/Diet — Grass finish

• Vaccines — Yes

• Growth Hormones/Technology — Yes

• Other — USDA no longer regulates this claim

USDA Natural Beef Label

• Food/Diet — Grass or grain finish

• Vaccines — Program-specific

• Growth Hormones/Technology — Program-specific

• Other — Minimally processed

USDA Naturally Raised Beef Label

• Food/Diet — Grass or grain finish

• Vaccines — No

• Growth Hormones/Technology — No

• Other — “Never ever” claim; hardest label to obtain

USDA Organic Beef Label

• Food/Diet — Grass or grain finish

• Vaccines — No

• Growth Hormones/Technology — No

• Other — Fed 100% organic feed

Which beef label is associated with the “never ever” claim?

USDA Naturally raised

“Never ever” Claim

Given to cattle whom have:

• Been raised w/o growth technologies

• Never given antibiotics

• Never fed animal by-products

Why do little to no health benefits exist from pasture/grass-fed beef?

Omega content of the plants, which would give it health benefits, is found in the animal’s fat.

• Most consumers do not eat all the fat on meat

Why is the lean color of pasture/grass-fed beef darker?

It takes a much longer time to get cattle to market weight on such diets

Minimal Processing

Fabrication, cutting, grinding.

• No chemical preservation, curing, or thermal cooking

Which beef label is associated with minimal processing?

Natural beef

Locally Raised Beef Label

Requires beef to be raised in the surrounding are where it’s sold, but there are no standards defining how far the radius extends

• “Local” could mean in Lubbock, the panhandle, or somewhere in Texas

The “never any” label is synonymous with?

Never ever claim

Why is “certified humane” put onto meat packages?

Trend to please consumers; all plants are required by USDA regulations to follow humane handling, so all meat is technically “humane”

Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Specifications

1. Marbling score of minimum Choice or higher

2. A maturity score

3. Medium or fine marbling texture

4. REA of 10-16 in²

5. HCW of less than 1,000 lbs

6. Fat Thickness (FT) less than 1 inch

7. Moderately thick or thick muscling score

8. No hump exceeding 2 inches in height