While all that sounds like a lot of effort, one can hardly argue with the results. In 2007, foodservice volume in flat iron steaks totaled 90 million lbs., making it the undisputed star in the BVC program. Meanwhile, 47 million lbs. of petite tenders and 37 million lbs. of ranch steaks were sold that year, as well. That's pretty impressive when one contrasts those volumes to the 29 million lbs. and 59 million lbs. of porterhouse and T-bone steaks, respectively, sold in 2007.

In 2006, BVC products were available in 9,900 retail stores nationwide, almost double the year before at 5,000. Just 321 stores were participating in 2003. The bottom line, Wasser points out, is that, from the shoulder clod alone, CattleFax estimates $50-$70/head in carcass value has been added since 1998.

The next frontier

That brings BVC to what Wasser and Ethridge call “the next frontier” — merchandizing of BVC products from the chuck roll, which debuted late last year. These include:

• Beef Chuck Eye Roast Boneless (America's Beef Roast)

• Beef Chuck Eye Country Style Ribs Boneless

• Beef Chuck Eye Steak Boneless (Delmonico)

• Beef Chuck Under Blade Center Steak Boneless (Denver Cut)

• Beef Chuck Underblade Flat Cut Splenius (Sierra Cut)

Ethridge is optimistic about their future. “The initial wave of Value Cuts took 10 years before we started to see some traction out in the country, but the encouraging part is that there's a lot more work to fabricating a shoulder than a chuck roll. Plus, we've already laid out the groundwork somewhat with our earlier work on the shoulder clod,” he says. “As a result, we expect exciting performance for these cuts in the marketplace in the near future. In fact, they're experiencing initial success regionally in limited amounts in both foodservice and retail.”

Table 1. Warner-Bratzler shear force rank

Source: Beef Innovations Group

Five of the top 10 most tender muscles in the beef carcass are from the chuck, which has traditionally been merchandized as ground beef or slow-cook roasts.