Time To Move the Beef!

Prime beef cut prices are at 7 year lows!
Prime beef cut prices are at 7 year lows!

Some restaurateurs are taking advantage of a 7 year low in choice and prime beef to offer their customers some great values on more expensive beef cuts like sirloin, T-bones, and ribeyes.

As consumer spending has ground to a halt, expensive cuts of beef have languished while affordable options like hamburger have continued to sell at a brisk pace.  Hamburger prices remain the same, but the oversupply of prime cuts has driven their price down.

Adding to the oversupply is the increased quality of cattle coming to market.  This is because prices on the hoof have stagnated, so ranchers tend to keep cattle longer hoping for a better price, and the older the cow, the more likely it is to qualify as choice or prime.

With top cuts selling at 2002 prices, restaurants have a unique window of opportunity to draw customers in with a great value on prime beef.  Beef prices typically tend to rise in the spring as supply falls, and then again as the residential grilling season heats up.

Still, prices on prime cuts of beef should stay relatively low for about another six months as consumers continue to avoid more expensive meats.

This means restaurants can continue to take advantage of good prices and move some quality beef.

About Greg McGuire

Greg has blogged about the food service industry for years and has been published in industry magazines, like Independent Restaurateur and industry blogs like Restaurant SmartBrief. He lives in Colorado with his wife and two sons and enjoys reading, live music, and the great outdoors.

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One comment

  1. Now THAT is a bright spot on a dark economy!

    Suggested “Special Insert” menu:

    The Country Boy
    We here at the ______________(your restaurant) would like to recognize the county boys that are our valued customers. You might be wearing a suit and tie but we KNOW deep down you are a country boy with a hankering for a meal that will leave you FULL! We have seen the disappointed look you gave those small portions on the “Light” menu! In honor of a REAL apatite We would like to offer for a limited time, “The Country Boy”! While your wife is eating her pasta and bird size light food; you Sir can eat like the COUNTRY BOY you really are! The smile on your face as you leave absolutely FULL will be thanks enough!

    16 oz rib eye steak grilled to perfection

    The above is served with our country potato’s (fried potato chunks mixed with real bacon and cheese), beef tips and gravy (made with 8 oz sirloin steak served over a bed rice (the real rice not the “healthy” rice) and your choice of baked potato(fully loaded) or steak fries.

    You can “mop up” with your choice homemade dinner rolls or our special jalapeno cornbread muffens served with REAL BUTTER!

    Please note we will put a piece of parsley on your plate to avoid those (nothing green) commits by your wife or siginifent other! (you don’t have to actully EAT it)

    our homemede beef stew will be served in place of the salad (you can tell your wife it’s soup).

    Make some room on the table! Push back that flower arangement, TONIGHT you are ordering “THE COUNTRY BOY”!

    Kevin Loving
    Galveston Texas
    (eternally looking for the answer to life’s persistent question; Where’s the BEEF?)

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