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Why is Meat Expensive, or is it?

Author: Giggs Meat
by Giggs Meat
Posted: Oct 04, 2020

Do You Still Think Meat Is Expensive?

So, what percentage cattle do I land up with from my 10 live animals?

The skin, blood, stomach contents, head, feet, innards etc., come to 47% of the live weight.

The butcher now features a beef carcass usually within the sort of two hindquarters and two forequarters. These quarters contain bone and fat that has got to be removed. this will be up to twenty weight loss from the carcase which, you'll remember is 53% of the live animal. And butchers need to pay their staff to get rid of the bone and fat efficiently and hygienically.

The hindquarter contains most of the premium cuts, the fillet, T-bone, rump and sirloin.

Take the fillet for instance. it's always the foremost expensive cut and is typically the one that gets people agitated about the worth of beef. Did Did you recognize that the fillet is a smaller amount than 2% of the entire carcass weight?

Or that the sirloin is a smaller amount than 5% of the carcass?

Or the rump is a smaller amount than 5% of the carcass.

Or that the round and chuck together structure 54% of the carcase?

That diced beef and mince structure the best percentage of the carcase?

So we've a carcase that's 53% of the live animal. We remove the bone and fat which is 6.5% of the carcase weight. The drip loss incurred in ageing beef is at minimum 2% so we reach over 60% waste between live weight and saleable weight. therefore the answer to the question at the beginning is 4. best Online meat delivery delhiWhy is Meat Expensive, or is it?

AUGUST 13, 2019 5 COMMENTS

Why is meat expensive?

I have been asked repeatedly over the years, by customers, chefs and farmers, why is meat so expensive? Well, how expensive is that the meat on your plate? Let’s take a glance at what's involved, but first, let me ask a question:

If I buy 10 live cattle from a farmer or at a market, what percentage am i able to sell?

What percentage of the live animals do I even have left to sell in any case slaughtering, boning, trimming, and fabrication is complete?

I think you'll be surprised by the solution. Before I answer the question, we must examine the sequence of events between buying a live animal and selling a steak.

Note: this is often how it works in Ireland but there are many similarities in other countries.

Buying The Animal From A Farmer.

Here’s how the chain of events goes:

The butcher and therefore the farmer agree a price and money changes hands. That’s the primary cost.

The animal is transported to an abattoir for slaughter. That’s the second cost.

The animal is slaughtered. we've added a 3rd cost.

The meat must be refrigerated before transport. Adding a fourth cost to the entire.

Next may be a compulsory Department of Agriculture veterinary inspection. Include this fifth cost.

The Food Board charges a levy. In Ireland, that’s €1.90 for beef, 25c for sheep and 35c for pigs. There’s our sixth cost already.

Any waste must be disposed of in registered and approved vehicles to approved and registered haulier and renderer (compulsory) using compulsory four-part documents for the Dept. of Agriculture. Seventh cost.

A 4-part document book must be purchased. Eighth cost.

The animal is transported to a meat market or boning hall. Ninth cost.

A butcher breaks down the carcase. Tenth cost.

The butcher vacuum packs the cuts after the breakdown. Eleventh cost.

The primal cuts then attend a meat market purchasable. That’s our twelfth cost.

The meat is now Refrigerated. Thirteenth cost.

Butchers must cut the meat into retail portions. We’ve already hit our fourteenth cost.

And then, the subsequent costs must be factored into the general final price of meat to the consumer:

Rent and rates.

Power for refrigeration and equipment.

Depreciation of kit.

Water, gas, phone.

Waste packaging refuse collection

Packaging, skewers, twine, etc.

HACCP maintenance & training for workers.

Lights, power, refrigeration.

Staff costs

Trade association membership.

Legal fees.

Spoilage and shrinkage.

Bone and fat trim.

Drip loss.

Advertising.

Marketing.

Digital rights fees for music within the shop, albeit it’s only the radio.

Insurance. Fire, flood personal liability and employee insurance.

Grease trap fees to the council.

Contributions community events, local fundraising etc.

After the meat carcase arrives within the butcher’s shop it's to be aged for a minimum of 14 days. This incurs a drip loss of about 2% of carcase weight.

If the butcher chooses to dry age the meat, counting on how long they age it for, the loss are often up to 25%, but that's not common.

Butchers then set prices for the varied cuts of beef supported a matrix of

how much of every cut is out there

the popularity of every cut

the socio-economic make-up of the customer base

what the competition is charging

what they need paid and outlaid for the meat thus far.

Butchers aim for a margin of profit of 30% of the asking price.

Out of that margin of profit, there are the varied costs I even have mentioned earlier. Wages are often up to 17% of sales leaving a butcher with 13% to pay services etc. Rent ideally shouldn't be quite 5% of sales.

Do You Still Think Meat Is Expensive?

So, what percentage cattle do I land up with from my 10 live animals?

The skin, blood, stomach contents, head, feet, innards etc., come to 47% of the live weight.

The butcher now features a beef carcase usually within the sort of two hindquarters and two forequarters. These quarters contain bone and fat that has got to be removed. this will be up to twenty weight loss from the carcase which, you'll remember is 53% of the live animal. And butchers need to pay their staff to get rid of the bone and fat efficiently and hygienically.

The hindquarter contains most of the premium cuts, the fillet, T-bone, rump and sirloin.

Take the fillet for instance. it's always the foremost expensive cut and is typically the one that gets people agitated about the worth of beef.

Did you recognize that the fillet is a smaller amount than 2% of the entire carcase weight?

Or that the sirloin is a smaller amount than 5% of the carcase?

Or the rump is a smaller amount than 5% of the carcase.

Or that the round and chuck together structure 54% of the carcase?

That diced beef and mince structure the best percentage of the carcase?

So we've a carcase that's 53% of the live animal. We remove the bone and fat which is 6.5% of the carcase weight. The drip loss incurred in ageing beef is at minimum 2% so we reach over 60% waste between live weight and saleable weight. therefore the answer to the question at the beginning is 4.

4 cattle out of 10. The equivalent of quite 6 cattle enter the bin with all the attendant disposal costs and therefore the butcher has 4 cattle left to sell.

And meat may be a perishable commodity which will become a loss if not handled properly. If butchers buy from wholesalers rather than slaughtering the animals themselves, the primary 14 costs are paid by the processor and a wholesale price is received.

All costs from there on apply to the butcher. What about the fifth quarter I hear you say?

The fifth quarter is any saleable product harvested during the slaughter process,i.e. Tongue, heart, liver, hide, kidney and renderable fat.

To realise any real value from the fifth quarter you'd got to be slaughtering in quantities. Many butcher’s customers lately aren't curious about buying hearts and livers. Much offal is exported by the massive processors. the meat hide was worth tons of cash at just one occasion but currently sell for fewer than €10.

In 2015 I checked out the input price versus the retail asking price over the previous 15 years and came up with some interesting figures.

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Author: Giggs Meat

Giggs Meat

Member since: Oct 01, 2020
Published articles: 1

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