Alternative meat cuts to save restaurants money

Beef prices have risen by 30 per cent since Christmas and chefs are finding themselves under increasing pressure to find alternatives to the most expensive cuts.

As a result, EBLEX has created a range of steak cuts and lamb grills, as well as a new range of roasting joints for Christmas that are created using the alternative form of butchery.

“We recognised that with the price of ingredients continuing to rise, caterers would want to find ways to reduce costs while maintaining quality, which is why we decided to look some alternative beef and lamb cuts,” said EBLEX Foodservice Manager Hugh Judd.

Seam butchery involves a skilled butcher separating muscle from connective tissue to provide tender pieces of meat from sections of the animal that traditionally are deemed too tough and cheap. The benefit to restaurants is the costs of the new cuts are lower but the quality isn’t.

David Jenkins, Sales Director at Pioneer Foodservice said careful seam butchery could help save restaurants money. He said: “The impact of food inflation has meant that our company, like every other, has been forced to increase the price of all our meat products. As a result, we`ve been trying to find ways to provide our customers with more cost effective alternatives and we believe that EBLEX has now found the solution.”

EBLEX’s range of Christmas roasting joints has just been launched and includes a free carvery DVD. For more information about the range visit the EBLEX​ website.

To see how seam butchery differs from traditional butchery see BigHospitality’s exclusive video.

Read Joe Lutrario’s feature Cutting Edge in the July 30 edition of Restaurant magazine or here.