From the barnyard to the plate, a new technology being used by a Richmond-based food distributor allows its customers to track the source of the beef it buys to the farm it came from.
Performance Food Group, which distributes products to thousands of restaurants across the country, is now offering DNA-traceability as an added service for its line of beef products.
More from the Associated Press story:
“People are spending less in restaurants than they used to, but they are willing to spend more when they do go out to get something really special,” said George Holm, CEO of the company that supplies food and other products to more than 130,000 restaurants and institutions, including schools, hotels and health care facilities.
Tests the company did in some steakhouses it supplies, as well as surveys outside other restaurants, showed consumers were willing to pay $2 or $3 more for the same cut meat if various “pleasers” were added — a higher quality of meat, traceability, as well as how the animals were treated and fed.
Of course, that value comes only if the customer knows about it. Which is why some restaurants are drawing diners’ attention to the DNA-traceable meat through words and graphics on their menus, as well as having waiters educate customers at the table.
Continue reading over at Bloomberg Businessweek.
From the barnyard to the plate, a new technology being used by a Richmond-based food distributor allows its customers to track the source of the beef it buys to the farm it came from.
Performance Food Group, which distributes products to thousands of restaurants across the country, is now offering DNA-traceability as an added service for its line of beef products.
More from the Associated Press story:
“People are spending less in restaurants than they used to, but they are willing to spend more when they do go out to get something really special,” said George Holm, CEO of the company that supplies food and other products to more than 130,000 restaurants and institutions, including schools, hotels and health care facilities.
Tests the company did in some steakhouses it supplies, as well as surveys outside other restaurants, showed consumers were willing to pay $2 or $3 more for the same cut meat if various “pleasers” were added — a higher quality of meat, traceability, as well as how the animals were treated and fed.
Of course, that value comes only if the customer knows about it. Which is why some restaurants are drawing diners’ attention to the DNA-traceable meat through words and graphics on their menus, as well as having waiters educate customers at the table.
Continue reading over at Bloomberg Businessweek.
I’d be glad to see more sourcing provenance in/on all food sold by 3rd parties (not the grower/farmer). We’re essentially Cro-magnons with smartphones – manufactured food is NOT good for us, no matter what our TVs are telling us.
PFG is smart to at least provide a small amount of meaningful information, even if they’re charging for the privilege. Next up in my foodie dreams: the dairy industry goes 100% hormone-free, meat production goes all-grass-fed, fruit/veg farmers sign a no-insecticide/no-synthetic-fertilizer pledge.
Hey, it’s a dream …