Meat source FYI

Word on the street is that Sam's Clubs are not turning the profits they had been. Costco is still in the black. Maybe it's an attempt to recapture some market?

I'm also told that CHRISTMAS specials are beginning in July for the warehouse stores as well as Target's, etc. with layaway plans. If Christmas isn't good for these folks we may not see them around much longer.

It could be they are trying to get some KCBS business...or I should say the cooks business? I think I read somewhere on a partnership/sponsership, that could have something to do with it?

The Sam's Club here in Clearwater changed to the CAB products a good four to five months ago. They also added in certain cuts in prime grade.

At least for bbq purposes, I don't ever get my meats at Costco. They don't one-in butts nor packer briskets.

Just some info.

wow this must be a regional thing when it comes to pricing.

We only have a costco and the lease expensive beef they carry is 3.00 a lb eye roast.

I use it for jerky, I think the brisket is more like 4.50

I guess it is a regional thing. My two closest Sam's Club's sell choice brisket flats occasionally, but usually select. And they only sell select grade packers. I asked one of the butchers if they ever get choice grade packers and he said they only order select, but that occasionally a case or two of choice will show up by mistake. I haven't seen any CAB in any Sam's Club aside from the choice CAB brisket flats they had around 4th of July.

My two closest Costco stores sell almost exclusively choice packers, and they very rarely have flats for sale, usually just around holidays.

CAB is just a marketing thing. I don't think choice CAB is materially different from other choice graded meat. But regardless of whether it's Certified Angus or not, I'll always go for choice over select.

quote:

Originally posted by SkipQ:

CAB is just a marketing thing. I don't think choice CAB is materially different from other choice graded meat.

Twenty years ago, CAB was truly superior to just about any other commodity Choice grade beef...not to mention, a brilliant marketing ploy.

Today, while CAB folks still claim their product to originate from the top 1/3 rd of the Choice grade, I don't really find much of a difference, flavor and marbling wise.

I've read recently that a DNA study of beef marketed as "Angus" reveals more than 50% of the study group to be non-Angus. CAB wasn't a culprit but I see quite a bit of meat labeled as Angus in supermarkets and suspected some hanky panky.

I now return you to the original post

I'll need to stop in my local Sam's this week.

Like Ribdog's,our Costco just carries the 1.5 lb chunk of trimmed flat, the nice little old ladies make their Sunday pot roast from.

My long time meat managers,that used to order all of ours,had told me that the distribution centers were getting the same suspect product they were used to,but the company policy was to label it all Angus,with some kind of adjective tied to it.

The same old Excels at wallyworld now had angus as part of the description.

As BigMacs and everybody was marketing everything right down to weiners as some "kind of angus",it did require you to actually look at the meat.

Naturally,none of this had anything do do with the CAB,Certified Angus Beef,marketing program.

As we have discussed,signing up for a state,or regional angus program,could require as little as the cow[mama]having as little as 10% Angus and the bull could be all dairy,longhorn,or brahma.

Nothing like getting your next hotdog being a mix of chicken/soybeans/and a 20 yr old Lonhorn running the high plateau in the mountains of ol' Mexico.