At Sunnyside Farm their bodies are sleek and streamlined yet loaded with internal fat. At Georgetown Farm, 75 miles south, they are brawny and humpbacked yet lean. One is native to Japan, the other to Italy. Two Virginia farms, two very different kinds of cattle--and eventually two very different kinds of steaks on our dinner tables.
For the Sunnyside cattle, it's all about fat, with the owners there hoping to produce the most highly marbled, organically raised beef possible and sell it under a new, still undetermined, brand name. The owner of the cattle at Georgetown Farm is going for a completely different look and taste, producing meat that according to tests conducted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has less fat and cholesterol and fewer calories, ounce for ounce, than skinless chicken. The brand is called Piedmontese Silver.
Brand-name beef is on the rise. Certified Angus Beef (CAB), the leader in the brand-name beef industry, has experienced an average annual growth rate of 40 percent since its beginning in 1978. Many beef consumers are willing to pay the higher price for Angus and other brand names--if they can find them. They rate the branded beef as having a consistent high quality and good flavor. Still, Certified Angus Beef commands only 5 percent of the U.S.-raised beef market.
But beef industry experts predict that in years to come most beef in supermarkets will be sold under brand names. Cattlemen have finally realized that to stay competitive they must market themselves to the consumer in a whole new way.
"Finally is the key word," says Chuck Lambert, chief economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "The competition in the meat case has forced the beef industry to go from being a generic product to one with a brand name."
The majority of chicken is sold under brand names, such as Perdue or Tyson. Increasingly more pork is branded. Think: Smithfield. "For consumers, there's a seal of approval with a brand name," says Lambert. "If he likes the beef, he'll buy it again. And if he doesn't, he knows who to complain to while not turning against beef in general."
In time, there will be steaks that appeal to both Jack Sprat and his wife, a range from lean to fat. And both Sunnyside and Georgetown cattle farms are gearing up to meet the anticipated demand.
At Sunnyside Farm a rare, pampered breed of black to rust-colored cattle form a line at feeding time on a ridge overlooking Harris Hollow in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Washington, Va. This 425-acre, all- organic spread is home to largest herd of Wagyu on the East Coast--103 head.
Wagyu (pronounced wah-gyou), the national cattle of Japan, are noted for producing tender, juicy beef marbled with fat. The beef is called Kobe, named for the region of Japan where the breed was first established. In Japan these docile animals enjoy a playboy's lifestyle. They are fed beer during the summer months to stimulate their appetite. They are massaged to relieve muscle tension- -often a result of being tightly penned in a country where land and wide-open fields are at a premium. Their coats are brushed with sake to soften them and thereby, it is believed, improve meat quality. Some grades of Japanese Kobe beef sell for more than $100 per pound. But that's Japan.
At Sunnyside Farm, beer and sake are not part of the regimen. But a diet of organic hay, barley, corn and soybean meal as well as frequent bathing and grooming of the animals to promote hygiene, and a "buddy system"--whereby the animals are moved, weighed and inspected in pairs to relieve stress--are part of the program.
Owner David Cole, a former officer of America Online who found fortune in publishing and data communications, purchased the farm, along with its orchard and a home dating to the 1720s three years ago. He is betting that when his super-premium organic Kobe beef is ready for market next fall, it will bring a super-premium price, perhaps the highest price ever paid for beef in this country. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture policy to allow meat and poultry products to be labeled "certified organic" if farms meet national standards went into effect last month.
Cole's master plan is to create a network of organic farms across the Virginia Piedmont region. "We'll promote sustainable agriculture and preserve the natural habitat," he says. Sunnyside will be the hub, offering in addition to beef, organic vegetables, more than 30 kinds of apples, berries, eggs and free-range turkey. By summer there will be a visitor's center, an herbal school and hiking trails.
"This is the ground floor with all the classic signs," says Cole, 46, who also has homes in the Watergate complex, Hawaii and Palm Beach, Fla. "There's enormous potential here, with the proper oomph, to develop a premium niche market."
Now, shift to lean.
In Free Union, Va., 15 miles northwest of Charlottesville, in a similar setting of pastoral bliss a very different herd of 400 or so head roam Georgetown Farm, the 900-acre weekend estate of 69-year-old former Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman. The silver-gray Piedmontese cattle, a breed noted for muscular frames and genetically lean meat that comes from the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, have been mated to Polled Hereford cattle.
They call the brand Piedmontese Silver. The very lean beef, raised like the Sunnyside Wagyu with no growth hormones, steroids, stimulants or antibiotics, has no marbling. Still, it's moist and tender. The diet of the cattle is conventional. They graze on grass and are fed oats, corn and alfalfa. The flavor of the meat comes from the muscle rather than the fat.
Why did Bronfman go lean? "I started this thing to produce beef with very low fat. I have a cholesterol problem," Bronfman told a reporter last year at the opening of his modern 12,000-square-foot slaughterhouse, packing plant and retail meat market just outside of Madison, Va. It's the newest and largest Piedmontese processing facility on the East Coast. In addition, Bronfman maintains a herd of more than 300 bison, which are also noted for producing lean meat.
Who's the target audience for the fat meat? And who's the target audience for the lean meat?
For both farms, it's the same group--baby boomers.
Cole says that these diners watch what they eat but when they do eat red meat "they want the finest-quality, best-tasting beef available." Presently more than 90 percent of the Kobe beef raised in the United States is exported to Japan. Cole has his sights trained on the still undeveloped domestic market.
Some of those boomers might take comfort in published reports from the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University that Wagyu beef is higher in monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids--good fats--and lower in saturated fatty acids--bad fats--than conventional cattle. But according to research scientist David Lunt, superintendent of the McGregor Research Center at Texas A&M, this is not heart-healthy beef. "In a nutshell the differences are real but small. This is not the magic bullet," he says. "Wagyu are different genetically than U.S. cows but the implications [of the reports] were more for the marbling, the flavor and tenderness of the beef."
Who's buying lean? "Our target market is the health-conscious baby boomer-- folks who love beef but don't care for the greasy mouth-feel and excess fat often associated with a premium American steak," says Georgetown Farm sales manager Billy Salmon. The farm also produces a line of all-natural sausage, jerky and smoked cold cuts processed without nitrites. This week Fresh Fields stores started carrying Piedmontese Silver beef, which is also served in some area restaurants.
"The beef is dynamite. We've had nothing but rave responses from customers," says Galileo chef Todd Gray, who plans to open Equinox, his own restaurant, in early May. Gary serves a 30-ounce grilled and sliced "Rib Rack for Two" for $44.95.
One of the first restaurants in the area to feature Piedmontese Silver was Rupperts, another District restaurant. "The flavor is just amazing to me. It's so clean tasting," says chef John Cochran. But Cochran says the main reason he uses beef from Georgetown Farm is that it's a local brand. His customers know the area where the cattle are raised. "I've been out there. I can talk to the farmer," he says. "I know there's a level of excellence in it."
But the fat side has its fans, too. Gary Fick, chef of Casey Jones restaurant in La Plata, has had Kobe beef on his menu for six months. "People who are buying it understand [about the high fat]," he says. "But they also know the quality and they know it's worth the price."
TASTING THE BRAND-NAME BEEF
A steak is no longer simply--a steak. Brand names have complicated matters for beef lovers. Aging techniques and genetics come into play. Restaurant patrons may now choose Angus, Kobe, Piedmontese Silver or a Vintage dry-aged steak from Summerfield Farm. Each has its own set of attributes in flavor, tenderness, juiciness and degree of marbling.
How do they differ in taste? Members of the Food section staff were joined by Greg Preast, butcher/manager of Wagshal's Market in Spring Valley in the District; Jamie Nichol, owner of Summerfield Farm, a specialty meat purveyor in Culpeper, Va.; and Brian McBride, chef of Melrose restaurant in the Park Hyatt hotel, for a blind taste comparison of brand-name New York strip steaks. The meat was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked on a commercial kitchen grill by McBride to 110 degrees--rare.
The results were no surprise to our panel. The highly marbled, American- raised Kobe beef was the runaway winner. (It was also the most expensive.) The very lean Piedmontese Silver, which showed no signs of marbling, was no match for the far richer meats. This is a steak for folks who are willing to trade rich flavor for beef that has a unique, more subtle taste and reportedly less than half the total fat of skinless chicken.
Here are the New York strip steaks sampled and comments of the panel:
ANGUS PRIDE
A tender, juicy and flavorful steak with "a wonderful aroma." The Angus Pride steak ($8.99 per pound) was purchased at the Giant Food store at Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda.
KOBE BEEF
A very juicy, "buttery" steak with a "big round flavor." Comments included "this is what a steak should taste like" and "it packs the mouth with flavor." Available by advance order from Summerfield Farm. The minimum order is a full strip, yielding 8 to 10 steaks. Price: $22.58 per pound. By mail: Four 12-ounce Kobe steaks are $134.58 (overnight shipping included). Summerfield Farm, 10044 James Monroe Hwy., Culpeper, Va.; call 1-800-898-3276. Also available from Farm 2 Market in Roscoe, N.Y. Four 12-ounce rib-eye or strip loin Kobe steaks are $144 (includes shipping); call 1-800-477-2967.
PIEDMONTESE SILVER BEEF
A tender, moist steak that was "short on flavor." Available at Fresh Fields stores. Also at Buffalo Hill retail meat market and by mail. Four 8-ounce strip steaks are $38.95, plus shipping. Buffalo Hill, Madison, Va; call 1-888-EAT- LEAN.
SUMMERFIELD FARM VINTAGE DRY-AGED BEEF
The second place for flavor went to Jamie Nichol's Vintage dry-aged beef. A "standout" with "excellent taste and mouth-feel." Available by advance order from Summerfield Farm. The minimum order is a full strip, yielding 8 to 10 steaks. Price: $15.45 per pound. By mail: Four Vintage dry-aged steaks are $97.50 (includes shipping); call 1-800-898-3276.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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