Controlling the fat content of meat means getting top dollar for each grade and keeping customers pleased that they’re getting what they expect for their money.
FPL Food (Augusta, GA) is one of the largest privately owned processors of fresh beef products and value-added meat selections in the US. It provides several brands of high-quality beef to retail and foodservice customers. The company prides itself on its integrated “pasture to plate” system, whereby it is supplied by its own farms that raise 2,500 head of cattle annually to meet its customers’ needs.
For most meat processors, grading the beef for fat content after it’s been trimmed is not a speedy process; chubs of beef or samples of ground beef are sent to the lab to be checked for lean/fat content. Once the samples have been tested and graded, the processor can mark them as tested and ship them. If they don’t meet the required lean/fat ratio, the processor could elect to retrim or regrind, which means sending them back to the lab to be checked again for an appropriate lean/fat ratio. This can a be hit-or-miss method, and the processor stands to lose out when it comes to pricing meat products optimally and getting them out the door on time.