1Will Consumers Pay for Guaranteed Tender Steak?

· Meat tenderness is one of the most important quality characteristics to beef consumers. Current beef quality grading standards are poorly correlated with meat tenderness. Even within the same quality grade, steak tenderness varies considerably. As a result of consumers frequently experiencing poor steak eating experiences, their confidence in, and demand for beef has been adversely affected. · Consumers demonstrated a preference for tender steak. Blind taste tests revealed that 72 percent of consumers preferred tender steak relative to tough steak (as measured via Warner-Bratzler shear force tests) in terms of tenderness preferences. In these blind taste tests, 36 percent of consumers were also willing to pay an average of a $1.23/lb premium for a tender relative to a tough steak. · When information regarding tenderness was revealed to consumers together with a taste sample, 90 percent preferred the tender steak. Overall, 51 percent of consumers were willing to pay an average premium of $1.84/lb for a tender relative to a tough steak when the level of steak tenderness was revealed to the consumers. · Older, more highly educated consumers were more likely to prefer tender relative to tough steak and all consumers were 18 percent more likely to prefer tender steak when provided information regarding the product's tenderness. Of those individuals willing to pay a premium for tender steak