FSR December 2022

TRENDING ON THE MENU // Beef & Lamb

LAMB SHOULDER IS AN ECONOMICAL CUT THAT DINERS LOVE.

MEAT & LIVESTOCK AUSTRALIA

DeepCuts How chefs are livening up the menu with alternate cuts of lamb and beef. I f the restaurant-industry story of 2021 was the labor shortage, then 2022 will be known as the year food

beef consumption per capita remains almost exactly the same in 2022 as it was in 2021. The increasing cost of meat, combined with steady demand for it, has presented full-service restaurants with a conundrum: Raise menu prices and risk turning diners off, or would it be more prudent to find other ways to make up that revenue? “Initially, I think most restaurants— ours included—ate the increased cost,”

says Kevin Draper, executive chef at Bin 54, an upscale steakhouse in Cha pel Hill, North Carolina. “We tried to resist raising menu prices, hoping there was some stability around the corner. You ultimately accept that you have to raise prices and try to find other strate gies to survive.” Some of those “other strategies” include opting for alternative cuts of meat. Trending cuts fromoutside-of-the

costs skyrocketed. Supply chain snarls, combined with resurgent demand, inflated the price of once-reliable prod ucts and ingredients. Proteins were an area hit hard by inflation—Datassential reports that the price of meat has increased 84 percent year-over-year. Yet the USDA reports that

DECEMBER 2022 | SPONSORED CONTENT

50

FSRMAGAZINE .COM