Beef Mates program showcases versatility of Aussie beef and efficient use of secondary cuts + footage

MLA govt chef Sam Burke with visiting worldwide cooks throughout the Sydney Grasp Beef workshop

A bunch of high-flying worldwide cooks who visited Australia this month clearly see a future for sustainability and carbon/methane claims behind Australian premium beef getting used within the meals service business all over the world.

Whereas on vacation in Sydney earlier this month, Beef Central went alongside to watch Meat & Livestock Australia’s Aussie Beef Mates program, designed to spice up the worldwide urge for food for Australian beef.

The delegation of 16 cooks and meals professionals from China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the UK and the US spent the most effective a part of per week visiting cattle properties, feedlots, processing vegetation and different locations. The week led to Sydney with a Masterclass program exploring subjects together with butchery, Meat Requirements Australia grading techniques, meals security, integrity techniques, and extra.

MLA’s world enterprise supervisor Josh Anderson mentioned via the Aussie Beef Mates program, worldwide cooks and meals professionals discovered and shared the Australian beef story with their very own world networks, driving worldwide demand for our premium product.

“There isn’t a higher solution to be taught concerning the Australian beef business than by spending time with producers and meals professionals which are obsessed with Australian beef,” he mentioned.

“This system will assist to develop world exports by boosting the profile and understanding of beef in key abroad markets.

One of many highlights of the week was a culinary problem, the place the 16 cooks paired-off and had two hours to ship dishes primarily based on secondary cuts of Australian beef in unbelievable methods. Beef Central acted as one of many judges, and was blown away by the creativity, presentation abilities and power that went into the method.

All through the week, the Aussie Beef Mates shared concepts on modern beef makes use of and networked with stakeholders throughout the provide chain. Importantly, they discovered from one another as they created beef dishes impressed by a fusion of regional flavours.

British chef Fred Smith with seamed flat iron steaks harvested from the oyster blade

Right here’s some ideas from a number of the worldwide cooks collaborating on this month’s Beef Mates program:

Table of Contents

United Kingdom

Proficient British chef Fred Smith, pictured above, heads a preferred UK steakhouse chain known as Flat Iron, which specialises in utilizing the novel steak reduce of the identical identify, harvested from the oyster blade.

His firm now operates a dozen retailers in London, opening a thirteenth in Cambridge in July.

Extremely, by regular restaurant conventions, 75pc of the grilling cuts the community sells to diners are flat iron steaks, with the rest largely bavettes (flank steak) or sirloin.

“After we opened our first restaurant 11 years in the past, flat irons (200g parts) have been the one steaks on the menu, and it has remained by far our hottest reduce. It’s super-focussed, and our prospects preserve coming again for it,” chef Fred mentioned.

Accompaniments embody novel objects like beef dripping ‘popcorn’, constituted of rendered beef fats, which eats like pork crackling.

“4 years in the past, 75pc of the meat we used was Australian,” chef Fred mentioned.

“However since then, a variety of market circumstances together with tariff adjustments submit BREXIT, and availability because of the quarterly quota distribution challenges – has simply made the setting extremely troublesome to make use of Australian beef. It’s been a nightmare,” he mentioned

“However we’re completely pumped concerning the activation of the UK-Australia FTA earlier this month,” he mentioned. “We actually wish to get Australian beef again on our menu, in a giant manner, due to its consistency, high quality, and shelf life efficiency.”

“Traditionally we’ve solely ever sourced grainfed Australian beef so far. However studying extra throughout the Beef Mates delegation concerning the MSA grading system, I believe there may very well be actual alternative for us, additionally, in good high quality Australian grassfed. Home British beef is all grassfed anyway, so the purchasers are acquainted with it.

“We do see some inconsistency in home grassfed beef, however the UK doesn’t have the identical form of subtle grading system as MSA. If we in contrast it with British grassfed beef, I believe Australian MSA-graded grassfed would ship us the next degree of consistency.”

Chef Fred mentioned every of the corporate’s Flat Iron restaurant retailers carried out a day by day style take a look at of 4 steaks, with explicit emphasis on tenderness.

“We have now a cut-off of 4 or much less for what we deem to be acceptable. When we now have Australian beef on the menu, the fail fee is just about none, nothing. With British beef, the fail fee will be one in twenty.”

Requested whether or not rising wholesale beef costs had modified the supply on the Flat Irons’ menus, he mentioned all uncooked materials costs had risen.

“There’s been a lot stress on our enter prices, and we now have needed to elevate our steak menu costs. However worth is relative. The flat iron steak was £10 after we began a decade in the past, and £13 now. If you’d like a service of steak and chips and a glass of wine in central London, it may well get costly. However with flat irons, we will nonetheless do this for £25 or much less.”

Requested whether or not the carbon, methane or sustainable claims have been prone to appeal to curiosity within the UK meals service business, he mentioned it needed to. “Sustainability is a scorching subject, however the present price of dwelling disaster that we’re seeing in the UK has perhaps pushed it again down the precedence checklist a bit of.

“When shoppers have sufficient issues on their plate already, value trumps different attributes like this. Individuals (UK shoppers) nonetheless wish to go and eat out, however they might have rather less cash of their pockets. Flat Iron is an apparent selection, as a result of we provide a premium product at a really affordable value.”

“However environmental claims like this are coming. The UK retail market could be very totally different, however eating places are prone to be the place it’s seen first. Go to a grocery store within the UK and the whole lot is unbranded, and virtually all the time has British within the label. However meals service and hospitality is the place the chance lies for claims round setting.”

United States

US chef Stephen Toevs is the senior director of culinary with the Marriott Worldwide resort chain, engaged on the corporate’s in depth operations throughout the US Canada and the Caribbean.

“That is my first go to to Australia, and I’ve been impressed by the artisanship and stewardship of the land, throughout the farm visits we’ve made,” he mentioned.

“The farmers we’ve met pay homage to the soil – they embody the whole lot that everyone who desires to do good for the setting desires to attain. It’s a particular factor, and I wish to come again to see extra,” he mentioned.

Chef Stephen, pictured left throughout the culinary problem, mentioned claims round environmental footprint, methane and carbon resonated along with his resort and convention buyer base.

“Already Marriott is constructing its entire infrastructure round conferences and occasions at our motels round attempting to scale back our carbon footprint, and giving again carbon credit. Assembly planners with main prospects wishing to make use of Marriott properties wish to align themselves with hospitality suppliers who wish to do the identical factor.”

“However none of that comes into the image till you go to a farmer, who sticks a shovel into the bottom and pulls up this lovely soil, teeming with life; and talks about managing annual pasture cycles. That’s the place the rubber meets the highway for me, in any carbon claims.”

“It’s not a lot about accountable recycling (though that’s vital too) – it’s about what we do to raised the setting, beginning on-farm.”

The sustainability motion was occurring within the US cattle business additionally, however the US was a lot slower to adapt, as a result of the price of having a regenerative farm like these visited in Australia was fairly costly, and the yield and productiveness could also be decrease.

“However there are cattle producers within the US trailblazing a motion, that an increasing number of individuals are beginning to comply with,” chef Stephen mentioned.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi buying and selling firm and meat retail consultant Zeid al ahmad mentioned he had seen a giant shift over the previous three years in his nation out of a slender vary of steak cuts to be used in Saudi meals service and retail into a wider vary of beef cuts.

“Immediately we’re importing virtually 20 cuts, and promoting all of them to totally different prospects – flank, flap, oyster blade, chuck rib, brisket, chuck and rump amongst them.

The wholesale aspect of his enterprise companies virtually 120 butchers, and huge numbers of high quality eating eating places. It additionally operates eight of its personal retail butchery websites, together with high-end outlets known as Chopped (just like Australia’s Victor Churchill), and its personal informal steak eating restaurant Unfold.

A lot of the product bought is Australian in origin.

“We have been the primary to import Australian Wagyu beef into Saudi, and have grown the marketplace for Australian beef quite a bit,” he mentioned.

“The meat market in Saudi remains to be younger, however maturing, little by little. It’s progressing at an enormous tempo, with high quality eating eating places popping up, left, proper and centre. They’re following the mannequin set by Dubai, and the native market could be very sturdy.”

“There’s been large funding in high quality eating and eating places, and the market is maturing in a short time. Saudi has a really younger inhabitants that has sometimes studied overseas, and is hungry for western meals kinds.”

“A number of years in the past, diners solely wished tenderloin, ribeye and sirloin. However proper now we will barely sustain with demand for secondary cuts, for a variety of functions. And we get them in all grades, from grassfed and grainfed to Wagyu.”

“A giant a part of what we did was educate new prospects, taking them via all the course of behind Australian beef – the animals, the feeding packages, and the availability chain. That expanded the market quite a bit.”

Since imported beef costs had elevated up to now yr or two, buyer numbers had continued to develop, however common buy quantity had decreased. Some have been going for decrease marbling scores.

Environmental claims have been of rising curiosity, “particularly as lots of our prospects are extremely educated,” he mentioned.

“We’ve maybe performed a poor job of speaking about that aspect of the story. We’re nonetheless focussing on the standard and consistency, and style,” he mentioned. “However the environmental and methane story will come. The Center East remains to be a bit of behind, however we’re catching up in a short time in areas like this.”

“Saudi has set its Imaginative and prescient 2030 aims round carbon, and is selling a whole lot of effort within the space of environmentally-friendly merchandise below an initiative known as Inexperienced Saudi. We’re all on the identical path.”

The massive problem out of Australia is that we’re all the time out of product. The larger export prospects get precedence, and we are sometimes quick – we will take way more.”

Vietnam

Vietnamese chef and restaurant proprietor Tu Phan mentioned his nation was experiencing a growth within the restaurant scene because the COVID journey restrictions had began to clear.

“Each month, I see at the very least ten new higher high quality informal to high-end eating places opening in Hanoi alone. They’re catering for the worldwide vacationer commerce, in addition to wealthier locals,” he mentioned.

His personal informal western model bistro restaurant within the Previous Quarter of Hanoi (translated as ‘Devour’ in English) makes use of a whole lot of purple meat, by native requirements, the place seafood is in style. He plans to open a second extra informal restaurant by the tip of the yr.

His restaurant opened simply earlier than COVID struck, placing it below appreciable stress, however has bounced again strongly now.

“We use a whole lot of primals cuts like tenderloin and rib eye, however more and more we’re discovering makes use of for good high quality beef trimmings and secondary cuts, additionally. The one beef we use is Australian, together with Wagyu from Blackmore, and we will put a premium burger on our menu from the trimmings which could be very tasty, but moderately priced.”

“We would like our menu to supply the whole lot from a premium Wagyu steak expertise, via to a extra inexpensive premium burger choice.”

“We do have our personal cattle in Vietnam, however the model of meat could be very lean, completely totally different from what we will get from Australia, and never notably properly suited to the higher finish of the restaurant commerce,” chef Tu mentioned.

“I believe the standard boxed beef commerce out of Australia will develop, due to the growth in restaurant openings, along with the established dwell cattle commerce.”

Requested whether or not beef with connected carbon, methane or sustainability claims would have attraction in a market like Vietnam, he mentioned within the higher finish of the meals service market, it may.

“Even in Vietnam, the phrase sustainability is so in style proper now,” he mentioned. “Restaurant prospects do care about what they’re consuming, and the story behind the merchandise being served. It’s rising each day.”

“I used to be stunned, as a result of I assumed locations like Europe could be the one ones with an curiosity in sustainability – not Asia. I didn’t count on folks right here to care about it that a lot – each expats, and native Vietnamese. However as soon as tendencies like this have world momentum, it occurs in all places.”

Malaysia

Head chef Richard Tay works with restaurant proprietor the Calia Group in Malaysia.

Calia Group operates a community of 32 semi-fine and informal eating eating places throughout Kuala Lumpur, protecting a variety of cuisines from Japanese to Chinese language and extra western.

“We’re utilizing beef in fusion delicacies, utilizing conventional Malaysian cooking kinds built-in with western substances,” he mentioned.

“For us, it doesn’t matter what substances are used, each ingredient carries its personal id. For our Halal eating places, beef is above hen or fish – we specialise, it’s our level of distinction,” he mentioned.

“Proper now, we’re doing a little R&D, utilizing extra secondary cuts, for sluggish cooking like rendang – not simply steak. All the pieces – trimmings, offals, tendons and even issues like silverskin – lend themselves to Malaysia cooking,” chef Richard mentioned.

“We nonetheless purchase a whole lot of Australian striploin, however growing portions of chuck roll, eye rump and shoulder meat. Main suppliers embody Stanbroke and JBS.

He mentioned consciousness about carbon footprint and methane emissions was a rising pattern in Malaysia, amongst restaurant diners. “When such tendencies are available in, folks begin to comply with it,” he mentioned.

“Some Asian markets could also be slower to maneuver than different areas, however as soon as it occurs, it will likely be very quick.”

He mentioned his go to to Australia as a part of the Beef Mates program had been very helpful, as a part of his firm’s analysis into higher cuts utilisation. “It’s been a watch opener,” he mentioned.

A lot of the firm’s beef necessities are processed and sliced in a central kitchen, and distributed to the 32 restaurant retailers throughout the town.

“Malaysia’s meals service restaurant business remains to be in restoration part after COVID, however quantity is rising once more. Tourism has all the time been an vital a part of our enterprise.”