Battle For the Center of the Plate

August 2001

Everyone is vying for a share of the center of the plate. When that phrase was invented, everyone knew what it meant. It was a time when Americans expected a meal to mean meat, potatoes and maybe a little vegetable on the side. Good old-fashioned preparations, such as grilled steak, roasted chicken, pork chops and meat loaf, are not only still around, but making a bit of a comeback in a slightly reinvented way — designed to evoke the fuzzy feelings of the fifties with more flavor.

But that’s only part of the protein portion of the menu story today. With restaurateurs feeling a skilled-labor crunch, products that are easy to prepare, cost-effective and fit new flavor profiles will grab the biggest share of plate, especially in volume and chain operations. It doesn’t even matter which item — beef, chicken, turkey, pork or seafood — they serve. What matters, is if the price is right, the staff can prepare it easily and the item fits the menu. Add to that growing ethnic populations who view meat, poultry and seafood as more of an ingredient rather than a large portion and who demand flavor profiles they can identify, and a general demand for more innovative cooking, and the picture becomes even more complex.

Is beef what’s for dinner?
At the end of 2000, Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) reported that beef demand was 3.6% higher than in 1999. The key driver for this increased demand was the foodservice industry. According to a 1999 NPD Group/Crest study, beef is the No.1 center-of-the-plate item in foodservice, with 7.2 billion servings sold compared to 5.2 billion chicken and 510 million pork servings. That represents a 14% increase for beef since 1990.

The beef industry attributes this, in part, to an effort that began in the 1980s emphasizing improvements in product consistency, tenderness and overall quality, in addition to new-product development. Three years ago, NCBA began to introduce value-added beef products from the more underutilized chuck and round cuts. These partially or fully cooked products designed for multiple applications, dubbed “easy beef,” need less preparation time, thus giving operators time to create signature entrées even with labor shortages.

One product line, called Smart Cut Steaks, a result of NCBA’s muscle-profiling research, is individual cuts from the tender chuck and round with great taste and presentation, and is less expensive than loin or rib steaks. These products, such as the Ranch Cut Steak from the shoulder center muscle and the Flat Iron Steak cut from the top blade, are marketed as versatile cuts suitable for a variety of applications. Country Kitchen International restaurants, Madison, WI, recently launched a “Big Ranch Steaks” promotion covering all three day parts (breakfast, lunch and dinner) using the Ranch Cut Steak. The promotion features five meals, starting with a steak-and-eggs breakfast, continuing through the day with a steak salad, a steak sandwich and, for dinner, a more tradition sirloin steak.

Tim Murray, corporate executive chef, Peer Foods, Chicago, develops meat products for various clients. “It depends on what kind of operation I’m working with. If I’m working on a product for a chain with a food bar, I’m looking at an underutilized and restructured product. For a casual-theme restaurant, I’m looking at underutilized cuts, but also at adding flavor and tenderness to that cut. Chains especially are looking for not only flavor profiles, but culinary preparations that will merge the gap between raw and cooked product,” he says. He believes that the beef industry is just beginning to explore underutilized products — an area in which the pork industry has reached maturity.

At a large-volume operation, such as Corning Inc.’s B&I operation in Corning, NY, where 8,000 meals are served per day, everyone from factory workers to executives finds affordable beef entrées crucial. “We looked into premarinated products, but found them to be too expensive. Instead, I use prepared marinades such as those made by L.J. Minor, Cleveland. But I do buy precut and underutilized beef products. Flank steak is one item we used a lot, then cut out for a while when the prices blew up and I substituted skirt steak. I’m back to buying flank steak again and use it in a variety of ways, such as in fajitas,” says Joseph Kilmer, executive chef of dining services at Corning.

Other new products developed by meat companies (with the help of the beef industry’s checkoff program in which one dollar per head goes toward developing new products) are designed for wide application. For example, Sam Hausman Meat Packer, Inc., Corpus Christi, TX, developed a breaded beef finger food with seasoned beef and Cheddar cheese geared to foodservice kids’ meals, called Cheeseburger Fries, to be served with dipping sauces.

Dry rubs — combinations of seasonings rubbed into the beef, chicken, turkey or pork before cooking — also are gaining favor and winning praise from patrons. McCormick & Company, Inc., Hunt Valley, MD, in fact, has come up with a line of prepared rubs: Monterey Style, with roasted garlic and red bell peppers; Key West Style, with fresh lemon peel, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage; and Santa Fe Style, with chili pepper, cumin, coriander, onion and garlic.

What about pork?
Do people really think of pork as the other white meat? Perhaps not, but the efforts by the pork industry to make pork leaner have paid off. The National Pork Board (NPB), Des Moines, IA, which is the new name of the National Pork Producers Council, claims that fresh pork is now on average 31% lower in fat, 14% lower in calories and 10% lower in cholesterol than it was in 1983.

The most popular type of fresh pork served today by foodservice operators is a chop. Almost two out of three (64%) operators currently serve fresh pork chops at their establishments, according to a recent NPB Operator Attitudes & Perceptions study. Ribs came in second at 45%, followed by pork loin (43%), roast (41%), tenderloin (36%) and barbecue pork sandwiches (35%).

Pork, like poultry, is a great flavor carrier and lends itself well to many of today’s most popular ethnic flavors. “We look at pork in more of a culinary sense than we do beef. Instead of creating a pork dish with a more traditional barbecue sauce, for example, we might do a Mediterranean natural jus to give it a Mediterranean profile,” says Murray.

Pork stars at Bahama Breeze units, a 15-restaurant Caribbean concept owned by Orlando, FL-based Darden Restaurants, Inc. Popular dishes include pan-seared pork medallions with añejo-rum demi-glace, jerk pork chops and puerco frito (fried pork) made of shredded hind leg of pork mixed with a mojo of fresh lime juice, oregano, garlic and cilantro. Products such as McCormick’s new Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, a blend of red and black peppers with allspice, cloves, rosemary and thyme, make it easy for restaurateurs to add a Caribbean flavor to the menu.

For a lot of operations with a lower-skilled labor force, pork can pose a problem since, as Murray says, pork is a protein that requires an experienced line cook. “National chains have identified pork as difficult to cook. No one likes pink in their pork and if it’s cooked too much — which can happen in a matter of seconds — it’s too dry, which is also not acceptable. So, they look to meat companies like ours to produce products that will bridge that raw/ cooked gap,” Murray adds. “Pork is something people want but won’t cook at home — so they look to restaurants.”

Peer has developed a precooked pork chop that is heated quickly on an open-flame charbroiler, glazed with a barbecue sauce and on the plate in 10 minutes. According to the company, the product is akin to cooking a fresh chop but without the requirement of skilled labor. Pork formed into riblets has appeared on McDonald’s menus, and at venues like Corning’s where chef Kilmer simply defrosts frozen riblets and grills them off with a Mongolian barbecue sauce. In Norfolk, VA, schools have their USDA allotment of pork processed into pork chopettes. They mostly serve the chopettes with gravy, often on a bun with condiments. In school systems, USDA pork loins are cooked with barbecue sauce and plated with vegetables.

Barbecue is still the favorite way to serve pork, whether it’s good old American barbecue and its myriad of styles, or international barbecue from Indian tandoori, Chinese-style barbecue, Thai saté, or pit-cooked whole pig. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), Washington, D.C., barbecue is one of the fastest-growing restaurant categories. Research by Chicago-based Technomic Inc. bears that out: Combined sales at five of the largest barbecue chains increased to $845 million last year from $717 million in 1987.

Birds of a feather
If pork is a good flavor carrier, chicken and turkey lean toward greatness. Both types’ mild flavor means culinarians can go wild with flavor. There is not an ethnic cuisine around to which chicken or turkey can’t adapt, no matter how spicy. The boom in chicken consumption that began in the 1980s continues to climb, according to research released in May 2001 by the National Chicken Council, Washington, D.C., and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, Tucker, GA. These latest figures show that American consumers are eating an unprecedented 81 lbs. of chicken per person compared to 69.5 lbs. of beef. These figures compare to 77 lbs. of beef per person and 47 lbs. of chicken per person consumed in 1980.

Consumers perceive both chicken and turkey as lower-fat, more-healthful center-of-the-plate items. Operators like the advantages of ease of preparation and low cost. Not only is poultry more forgiving if not cooked perfectly, but more poultry products geared towards speed-scratch cooking are available. Chef Kilmer incorporates a lot of speed-scratch methods, buying precut, preportioned chicken and turkey and using his own or prepared sauces to add a signature creative touch. For example, he cuts chicken tenders into smaller pieces, dips them in tempura batter and fries them, and serves them with a prepared garlic sauce to make a popular Asian-inspired lunch entrée. At Corning, chicken also ends up in crispy wraps, in tacos and burritos, and in curried dishes aimed toward the company’s large Indian population.

Companies such as Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, AR, are leading the way in new chicken products geared toward home-meal replacement, simple-to-prepare entrées for sit-down dining, items focused on kids’ meals, and products easily adapted to appetizer menus. Some of the newest products include Crusted Breast Filets, Roasted and Carved Breast Filets, SmokeHouse Style IQF Chicken, Extreme Chicken™ (wings and drums seasoned with dry rubs in Caribbean Storm, Crazy Chipotle and Pepper Rush flavors) and Sticklers™ (chicken thigh meat on sticks).

The turkey industry is catching up in terms of offering laborsaving products. Turkey is no longer perceived as a once-a-year poultry. Raw products for foodservice include breast roasts, tenderloins, filet mignon, crosscut fillets, tenderloin medallions, breast cutlets, breast steaks and bone-in breast chops. In addition, for those patrons who prefer not to eat red meat, ground turkey is growing in popularity for burgers, meatloaf and meatballs. Some fully cooked prepared products include breaded country-fried turkey steak, fully cooked turkey barbecue and items geared to kids’ menus such as breaded turkey nuggets, breaded turkey on a stick and turkey corn dogs.

Chefs now more frequently include turkey on their menus, as well, showing turkey’s adaptability and affordability. Loretta Barrett of Corn Dance Café in Santa Fe, NM, uses bold, intense flavor in pan-roasted medallions of turkey with sage cornbread dressing and cranberry-piñon sauce. Susan Goss, Zinfandel, Chicago, shows how well turkey adapts to barbecue by serving her jerk turkey thighs with banana ketchup. And turkey’s down-home appeal makes its mark in Oona Settembre’s turkey chowder served at Dave & Buster’s units, headquartered in Dallas. “Turkey is a great value for the money and it’s quite versatile. From dark meat to white meat, from smoked to cured, there is a whole world of flavors available with turkey. It can take on various cuisines and still stand on its own and won’t overpower or be overpowered by other ingredients,” Settembre says.

Higher-end poultry items capture a very small market niche. Poultry that is seeing some play on higher-end menus include ostrich, emu, rhea and squab, better known as pigeon, all of which came under mandatory USDA inspection on April 26, 2001. The squab consumed in the United States — served predominantly in Chinese restaurants — is farm-raised by 70 independent farmers from California or South Carolina. Roasted squab has a nutty, robust, yet not gamy flavor that stands up well to wine. However, at $8 a pound, it’s likely to be found only on high-end restaurant menus.

Hooked on seafood
The one center-of-the-plate category that has lagged behind is seafood, but its consumption has risen during the last two years, according to Crest data, indicating there are opportunities for the restaurant industry to expand its seafood offerings. A study conducted by the NRA in conjunction with the National Fisheries Institute, Arlington, VA, found that consumers would like to try more broiled, baked or grilled seafood items. Seafood is one item consumers often are reluctant to prepare at home, making restaurants the perfect place to experiment with different seafood species and preparations.

About one-fifth of respondents reported that they consumed seafood at a restaurant at least once a week, and almost one-third said they order seafood about once a month in a restaurant. The reason most cited for not ordering seafood was price, but consumers said they also were reluctant to order seafood from quick-service restaurants, saying they worried about freshness, didn’t like the limited preparation options and preferred to order chicken or burgers when eating at such establishments. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they ate seafood because they liked the taste, but another top reason was for health. Favorite seafood included shrimp as the overwhelming favorite, and also lobster, salmon and crab. Fish and seafood have a lot going for them in terms of consumer perception of healthfulness. Eight out of 10 respondents said they perceived seafood as more healthful than beef and pork products.

One of the biggest concerns in the seafood industry has been overfishing. The industry worked with Congress in 1976 enacting new laws to protect the nation’s fish within 200 miles of the coast. While fish populations like haddock rebounded, increased fishing caused another setback. One way the seafood industry responded was by promoting underutilized species. The same nets that catch popular species like haddock, cod, pollock and flounder, also catch lesser known hake, cusk, ocean catfish, skates and cape shark. Smart restaurateurs, like Boston’s Legal Sea Foods CEO, Roger Berkowitz, successfully added dishes using these fish to the menu. These underutilized species also are often lower in cost.

Farm-raised fish, such as catfish, tilapia, salmon, striped bass and trout, solve the supply problem and offer consistent products year-round, as well as an affordable seafood option. In 1994, U.S. aquaculture production reached 715 million pounds, representing 13% of the seafood consumed in this country. Catfish represents nearly two-thirds of that figure, followed by trout, salmon and tilapia.

Although seafood traditionally has been perceived as a high-end item, many mid-scale and family chains as well as quick-service chains are diving into seafood, offering more items to an increasingly sophisticated population. Chart House, the 40-year-old Chicago-based chain, decided to change its menu focus from beef to seafood in 1999. While the steakhouse category is still the fastest-growing part of the industry according to Technomic Inc., seafood restaurants are now seen as the larger opportunity.

Red Lobster, Orlando, FL, recently added more cutting-edge new seafood items to the menu, such as potato-crusted haddock and pan-seared rainbow trout with shrimp. Cheesecake Factory Inc., Calabasas Hills, CA, now has Jamaican black-pepper shrimp, and Claim Jumper, Irvine, CA, serves seared ahi rolls. Even McDonald’s launched lobster rolls in 1990 in New England, going head to head with local restaurants. While locals complain that it’s a bastardized version, the company still expects to sell close to 200,000 lbs. of lobster meat in its 400 regional restaurants between this year’s Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Like any other center-of-the-plate item, the way to make fish popular to the masses is to serve it in familiar ways: fish tacos, burgers, on a stick, over pasta, and definitely with robust, spicy and intense flavor. The way to patrons’ stomachs today is to be creative, innovative and cost-friendly. The way to restaurateurs’ hearts is to make products labor-easy, cost-effective and most of all, patron-pleasing.

Nancy Backas of Chicago-based Backas Communications, is a freelance writer, consultant and chef. She has been writing about the foodservice industry for 20 years. She also develops recipes and tracks culinary trends. She can be reached via email at Nback@prodigy.net.

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