Talking to a new guy from a big box store made me see our local beef differently

I was chatting with a young guy, Mark, who just left a major grocery chain's meat department. He said their grind for ground chuck always came from trimmings frozen for over 90 days before they even got it. It hit me that our shop's grind from fresh local primals that morning is a totally different product, even if the label says the same thing. How do you explain that value difference to a customer who just sees the price?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_miles1mo agoMost Upvoted

But what if the frozen grind is actually better? That 90 day freeze kills more bacteria, and freezing right away locks in the flavor from when the meat was freshest. Your morning grind could be sitting in a case all day losing quality.

eva6661mo ago

Mark's store probably sells 10x more volume, so their frozen system keeps costs down for regular families. Most people just need dinner on the table.

thomas_brown17d ago

Oh man that's a good point about the volume thing. I remember when I was in college I worked at a grocery store deli and we'd grind beef in the morning, wrap it up, and the stuff that didn't sell by 3pm just sat there looking gray. The butcher told me the color change doesn't mean it's bad but man it looked sad. One time this lady came in screaming that our fresh ground beef smelled like feet. The manager just shrugged and said "that's why we freeze it now." I actually think the frozen stuff from the big stores is fine for weeknight tacos or spaghetti. Not every meal needs to be some fancy butcher shop experience.