Focus on Meat: What's your beef?

If the steak you serve is whisked direct to your customers' plates from the prime herd belonging to the farm next door, why not shout about it? That's the question posed by a new report into customers' dining demands.

Pub Catering, published by research group Mintel, stresses the importance of local provenance for customers, and suggests that pubs promote this feature with greater conviction.

The report found that 31 per cent of customers agree that the range and quality of pub food has improved in recent years. However, 33 per cent say better catering would draw them to pubs in the future. The report cites several ways that pubs could improve their food offering; chief among these is sourcing of ingredients. "Whether or not operators choose to go down the route of organic or locally or regionally produced products, dishes should be able to stand on the flavour of the individual ingredients alone," it says.

It adds: "The successful food pub of the 2000s will be looking at actively advertising its local sourcing and quality ingredients using farm assured or similar schemes."

The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC)

operates two such farm assurance schemes - with the British Pig Executive's Quality Standard scheme for pork and the English Beef and Lamb Executive's Quality Standard schemes for beef and lamb.

MLC foodservice trade manager Tony Goodger speaks of what he labels "the increasing customer desire for food provenance".

"It is clear that this concern is growing when eating out of home," he says. "So, wherever possible, we would urge that chefs actively sourcing assured red meat make a point of referencing it on their menus. After all, it's a guarantee their customers are seeking."

Another major concern among customers, according to Mintel's report, is local sourcing and seasonal produce.

Red meat makes it easier to set a menu that changes from week-to-week, says Tony, because of its versatility. It "perfectly complements seasonal fruit and vegetables, enabling chefs to cost effectively refresh menus to reflect the changing seasons."

Another major trend highlighted in Pub Catering is consumers' movement towards healthy eating, something which is of course intrinsically linked to fresh produce. Red meat, a source of iron and little fat, can satisfy this demand, Tony says.