The 2011 National Beef Quality Audit showed that beef retailers and foodservice operators identified beef flavor as the primary attribute of importance when defining eating satisfaction. Many agree that the superior flavor of beef is responsible for the resiliency of beef demand, despite record high beef prices.
Recently, with funding from The Beef Checkoff, a study was conducted to identify consumer preferences for different types of beef based on flavor. Some 335 consumers representing the Western, Central and Eastern regions of the U.S. and a wide age demographic were asked to rank, in order, 10 considerations when purchasing beef. The consumers in this study ranked these considerations in the following order: 1) taste/eating experience; 2) visual appearance; 3) marbling level; 4) USDA quality grade; 5) nutrient content; 6) breed of animal; 7) where and how the animal was raised; 8) use of growth-promoting technologies; 9) brand of product; 10) grass- vs. grain-fed. These findings underscore the importance of taste and eating experience along with the marbling level and grade of beef, while less emphasis is placed on considerations related to animal production and marketing claims.