Find Your Niche

By Jack Nemec
Published on July 1, 2007
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The Piedmontese is 'double muscled' due to a gene that suppresses the production of myostatin, a protein that normally inhibits muscle growth.
The Piedmontese is 'double muscled' due to a gene that suppresses the production of myostatin, a protein that normally inhibits muscle growth.
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We humans are a diverse lot and when it comes to beef, we definitely want it our way. But where does all that focused food come from? Thanks to the fact that more than 70 breeds of cattle have been introduced to the United States through the years, many of today’s beef producers are putting that genetic diversity to good use to provide one of the safest and healthiest forms of protein exactly the way you want it.

Finding a niche in the cattle business means serving a unique group of consumers. Niche market producers differentiate themselves by fulfilling a particular need that’s usually overlooked by the mainstream. A niche must offer a difference people are willing to pay for. These days in the beef industry, most value-added differences include words like lean, natural, organic, healthy or environmentally friendly.

Keep It Lean

Let’s start with lean beef. Due to health concerns, many consumers prefer reduced-fat meat. Sellers using the term lean on their labels must verify fat content through laboratory tests. One lean beef production and marketing program is Laura’s Lean Beef (www.LaurasLeanBeef.com). Started in 1985 by Laura Freeman, Laura’s Lean is an all-natural, branded beef company dedicated to supporting family farms. Laura’s suppliers produce lean beef from lean, heavily muscled cattle raised on natural feeds without added growth hormones or antibiotics.

Laura’s Lean has relationships with the American breed associations for several imported continental European breeds, such as Limousin and Charolais (from France), Simmental (Switzerland, France and Germany), and Gelbvieh (Germany). The Piedmontese (Italy) and Belgian Blue (Belgium) breeds, both famous for their “double muscling,” are also obvious choices for the Laura’s Lean program.

Greener Beef

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