MSA role in beef
Meat Standards Australia Project Officer Sarah Strachan, said brands - including MSA licensed brands and those underpinned by eating quality systems - had been a real growth area - it had “exploded”.
There were about 150 MSA licensed beef brands owned by around 90 different companies. She said that as beef became a more expensive protein source of choice, the brands were trying to secure that purchase, and re-purchase.
MSA provided a tick, or stamp of approval behind that brand and identify that the brand had “jumped through a lot of hurdles” relating to eating quality standards.
“There is a realisation that meeting consumer expectations consistently was a competitive advantage,” she said.
The MSA system took the guesswork for consumers out of buying beef, at a time when beef was more expensive than other choices available. It also gave confidence that when they purchased an MSA brand that they would enjoy it when they cooked it at home.
“The brands also help the consumer put the right piece of meat into the right cooking method, trying to remove any chance of the consumer “failing”, she said.
“There are different levels of MSA. Some differentiated themselves further by segregating the different levels of eating quality within their brands.
