Many factors influence consumers’ acceptance of higher-value beef products such as steaks. All factors being equal, tenderness issues overshadow other eating qualities such as flavor or juiciness, and consumers are willing to pay more for steaks guaranteed to be tender (Smith et al. 2008; Miller et al. 2001). To date there has not been a systematic island-wide tenderness assessment of the Kaua‘i-produced beef available at the retail market. All commercial beef cattle in Kaua‘i are raised entirely on forage, or in other words are “grass-fed” or “grass-finished” as opposed to being fed concentrates. Ranchers supplying the local retail market rely primarily on Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), pangola grass (Digitaria eriantha), California grass (Brachiaria mutica), and several Desmodium species to produce finished cattle.
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he primary purpose of this store-shelf beef survey is to establish a baseline of tenderness data using a shear force evaluation to help guide Kaua‘i ranchers’ production and marketing efforts. Based on this information, specific factors known to influence beef tenderness in Hawai‘i (Kim et al. 2007b) will be further tested using Kaua‘i beef.