The Importance of Fat Analysis for Meat Cutters and Retailers

As the rising competition is reducing profit margins for retailers and meat cutters, one way to ensure the survival of such a business is by embracing technology. 

With the explosive growth of fat content analysis methods and equipment, operations ranging from small meat markets to large chain superstores are all incorporating fat analysis in their processes at a rapid pace.

In this article, we’ll focus on fat analysis for meat specifically and how it can help turn a struggling business into a thriving one. 

What Fat Analysis Can Do for Your Business

Using accurate fat analysis can benefit your business in the following three ways: 

1. Increase Your Profits

The biggest impact fat analysis can have on your business is the uplift in profit margins. 

Businesses that use either outdated fat analysis devices or none at all fail to accurately label their meat. Without an accurate measurement of fat content, they end up hurting their profit margins by selling a leaner cut than what they’re actually charging the customer for. 

Example:

Let’s say a meat cutter sells ground beef with a specified fat content of 15% for $3 per pound and handles a volume of 20,000 lbs per month. Let’s also assume the fat is valued at $0.4 per pound. 

Without an accurate fat analysis system in place, they may end up with a finished product containing 10% fat only. That’s a 5% leaner cut than what they’re actually getting paid for.

2. Meet Requirements

Not only can unreliable fat analysis eat into your profits, but it can also result in inaccurate labeling. 

If your business ends up advertising the meat as leaner than it actually is, you risk a fine by the food authorities in your area. In fact, counties all across the country are taking a proactive stance against food mislabeling, and huge fines are nothing unheard of. 

Apart from that, mislabelling can quite literally ruin the reputation of your business with bad press, especially at the hands of local media. 

3. Satisfy Customers

While saving money is the biggest selling point of fat analyzers, another important and often overlooked aspect is their impact on customer satisfaction.

As many consumers today are cautious of fat in their diet, they are willing to pay a premium to get their hands on the leanest cut of meat they can get. On the other hand, many prefer a juicier cut that is high in fat. 

In either case, the best way to satisfy such customers is by using an accurate fat analyzer to give them the exact cut of meat they’re looking for.

And as you can imagine, a satisfied customer is a returning customer. 

Conclusion

Incorporating fat analysis in your operations can yield many positive results for your business. Perhaps the most important of those results is consistency, as it not only increases your profits but also helps you serve your customers the best. 

To maximize consistency, accuracy matters above all else and that’s exactly what you get with our range of DSC Digital Fat Analyzers. 

With a minimum fat measurement of 1% and a margin of error within half of a percent (give or take 0.5%), these fat analyzers are 4 times more accurate than older models based on the Univex method.