A rib-eye by any other name

The summer grilling season just got easier - at least that's what the National Pork Board and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association hope.

The two organizations recently announced new names for more than 350 cuts of pork and beef. The change comes on the heels of nearly two years of consumer research in which consumers called beef and pork labels confusing. This marks the first time Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards (URMIS) standards have been changed since first introduced in 1973.

URMIS was created to establish uniformity for consumers, guaranteeing that they can identify and purchase the same cut of beef, veal, lamb and pork under the same name no matter where they shop in the United States. However, there are more cuts of meat now then there was in the 1970s.

“You don't order a side of beef anymore,” says Michelle Baumhover, director of consumer marketing for the Iowa Cattlemen's Association. “You order a single cut that you can prepare at home.”

But the old labeling system - which listed the species of the animal first, followed by the wholesale or primal name and the specific retail name - didn't favor the new cuts. Labels got longer and more confusing.

“When you have to explain why it's named the way it's named the way it is without enjoying the great cut of meat, it's obvious something isn't right,” says Patrick Fleming, director of retail marketing for the National Pork Board.

The new labeling system hopes to clear up this confusion by listing the common name shoppers will understand first.

“Consumer research revealed that top line is what people look at when they approach self-serve meat cases,” Baumhover says. “They are looking at that top line, searching for a name they can identify with.”

The second line will list the cut characteristics. A third line will provide the best preparation method or other helpful information.

“That makes sense; I like that,” says Mark Martin, owner of Nelson's Meat Market at 1140 Old Marion Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids.

While the changes are geared more toward self-service meat counters, Martin says he supports anything that will help consumers discover new cuts.

“This just opens up a new opportunity to sell more product,” he says.

While both beef and pork products will have new labels, beef names aren't necessarily changing.

“They're simplifying to reflect consumers' wants,” Baumhover says.

Pork names, though, will soon be more beefy. For example, a pork loin chop will now be labeled as Pork Porterhouse Chop and pork rib chop center will become Pork Rib-eye Chop.

“They're capitalizing on accepted terminology from beef,” Martin says. “I think it gives pork a better identity, one the public can get a grasp of when they realize ‘Oh, it's like a steak.'”

That's the marketing approach the National Pork Board will take this summer: Grill it like a steak.

“For us, the biggest obstacle for us was ‘A pork chop is a pork chop,' and no, it's not,” Fleming says. “Different cuts mean a different eating experience.”

Baumhover stresses that the system is voluntary.

“Consumers can expect to see the new labels as grocery stores choose to opt into the program,” she says.