Center of The Plate Tour Featuring Stockyards Angus Beef

When Steve Salle Center of the plate specialist came to visit on Wednesday, he came loaded for bear. (No we didn’t have any bear).

Based on a lead generated from the US Foodservice San Francisco booth at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine event we had a customer that was interested in the Stockyards Angus program.

Steve graduated from Culinary School and worked in a number of establishments culminating with running his own business for several years. He began with US Foodservice as a Territory Manager before accepting the position as Center of The Plate Specialist.

Steve had specific customers he was seeing on this trip, and each customer had specific needs to be addressed. With Steve's background he was able to contact the customers in advance and taylor specific items to meet their needs. As a result of Steve's calls he was able to upgrade a local pub from commodity "packer label" beef products to higher quality Stockyards Angus Beef product. Although the price per pound was higher with the switch, between the further trimmed Angus product and better perceived value by the consumer, and the flat out superior taste of the Stockyards product, proven in a blind tasting, the price difference was negligable.

Products shown and cooked during this trip were as follows:

Stockyards Reserve Angus
Tenderloin
Sirloin Ball Tips
16 ounce Baseball Cut Ribeye
14 ounce Hanger Steak
8 ounce Tenderloin
8 ounce Sierra Steak
6 1/2 pound Clod Heart Roast
28 ounce Porterhouse
12 ounce Milk Fed Veal chop
Hormel Natural Uncured Bacon

At another account he was able to place 4 seperate cuts on the menu, for 3 different meals at a large state park concession.

At his final call of the day he introduced portion cut Stockyards Reserve, the upper 2/3rds Choice beef product at this white tablecloth account/chophouse. As this operator expands to a third location Stockyards Reserve is in the running to be at the center of his plates.

Steve has two follow up calls at these accounts where he will be providing server training on the features, advantages, adn benefits of Stockyards. His training will emphasize how upselling their customers on the quality of the stockyards program will increase the check size and generate more income for the establishment and the server making the entire experience a win/win!

What Steve explained to our customers on this trip was:

Stock Yards Meat Packing Company was founded in 1893, just outside the gates of the famous Chicago Stockyards. In the early days, they served the local neighborhood as a family-run butcher shop. Their reputation as a consistent provider of high quality steaks and chops spread, and before long, local hotels and restaurants began to ask them to produce quality meat items for them as well.

By the early 1900’s, so much of their business was for hotels and restaurants, that they decided to make it their primary business. Over the many years since then, Stock Yards Meat Packing Company has pioneered a number of the portion control cutting and packaging techniques that are still used to this day.

Stock Yards® celebrates over 110 years of tradition. They have built their reputation on Consistency, Pride and Integrity. Stock Yards has developed a national presence, serving the finest restaurants and hotels in the U.S. and abroad, and those customers rely on the consistent product to build their reputations.

Why Stockyards Angus Beef?

• Continues our tradition of consistently delivering a phenomenal eating experience
• Only the finest beef products deserve the Stock Yards® brand
• Superior meat quality based on rigid specifications
• Highest USDA Choice beef (upper 2/3rds of Choice)
• Celebrates the culmination of over 110 years of Stock Yards® experience
• Honors our heritage as an international Purveyor of Quality Meats
• Only available from US Foodservice

USDA GL22 Requirements
• GLA – Live animal identification, Angus-type
• No Blood Spotting
• No Dark Cutters
• “A” Maturity
• Modest or higher degree of Marbling
• Yield Grade 3 or leaner
• Moderately thick or thicker muscling
• No hump exceeding 2 inches in height

USDA Grading Service verifies and guarantees that all beef carcasses selected for this program meet or exceed specifications for marbling, yield grade, Angus breed selection, and age maturity.

USDA Live Animal Identification
The Stock Yards Angus Beef® Brand has a live animal criteria of Angus type cattle - 51% black hair color.
The Angus breed is world renowned for consistently providing highly marbled beef at a younger age that provides a consistent and great eating experience .

You May Ask Why Not Other Breeds?
Over 80 different breeds are used in the U.S.
Some cattle breeds were bred to survive harsh environments or for draft work purposes.

Continental or European cattle breeds are considered less consistent in delivering high marbling and high palatability traits.

“A” Maturity ensures the cattle are 9-30 Monthes
As cattle get older, their bones begin to ossify and become harder and their muscle tissue becomes stronger.
The membrane that encases each muscle fiber gets thicker and longer making the meat much tougher.

How Stringent are these specifications?
In a typical population of 100 head of cattle, only 8 are going to meet all the quality specifications to be Stock Yards Angus Beef®

We are selecting the
top 8% of graded cattle
to ensure our customers
the most consistent, high quality beef available.

We add even more value to our
Stock Yards Angus Beef® Product
by following the Stock Yards brand aging specifications

Even with our stringent specifications one more step must be added to ensure Stock Yards famous quality and consistency
Proper Aging
Proper aging = Time + Temperature control 34-36° F
All product is wet aged in the vacuum sealed bag
All products have minimum requirements specific to the cut, to maximize Flavor and Tenderness
Tenderloins – 14 days
Shortloins, Striploins and Ribs – 21 days
Top Sirloins – 28 days

High Quality
• Only the top 8% of graded beef meets the specs
• Upper 2/3 USDA Choice and Prime Grades
• Only “A” Maturity Cattle
• Yield Grade 3 or Leaner
• Medium to fine Marbling Texture
Consistent
• USDA Certified using science based specifications
• Stock Yards aging specifications