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Wholesale prices for beef have only gone up over the last 14 years, the executive chef of FIRE and SOLE in Dublin, Richie Wilson, has said.
At FIRE restaurant, Hereford Prime is used and Wilson thinks “grass-fed delivers more flavour than grain-fed”.
When asked about changes to wholesale beef prices since the restaurant opened 14 years ago, he said: "I would say we have tried to hold strong, we would try and support the farmers in whatever way we can. It’s [price] only gone one way, it’s only gone up. It gets to the point where you can only charge so much for a steak.
"When we fight, it is not for our own profits, it is for the restaurant. Nobody is going to come in and pay a ridiculous amount of money for an 8oz sirloin. We understand the plight of the farmer as well."
Wilson was speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the launch of the World Steak Challenge, at which he is chairing the judging panel. It will be held in Dublin on 9 and 10 July.
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to rib eye, fillet steak and sirloins. From the winners in each of those categories, only one steak will achieve the status of World’s Best Steak 2019. The closing date for entries is 28 May.
2018 world’s best steak
The 2018 champion was a grass-fed Ayrshire produced by JN Meat International of Denmark. The steak, which was reared by Atria Finland, won best grass fed and best sirloin medals in the annual challenge.
“[Ayrshire] is a race that can get more marbled,” CEO and founder of JN Meat International, John Sashi Nielsen told the Irish Farmers Journal. He says small family farms in Finland supply Atria Finland and the cattle are reared both indoors and outdoors but receive just grass or hay.
“They are killed from three to seven years of age,” he said. When asked about the costs of rearing an animal to that age, Sashi Nielsen said “sometimes you have to think about when you take [slaughter] an animal for tenderness and taste.”
Prices
The farmgate price for beef in Finland, according to Bord Bia, is €3.95/kg for an R3 bull or €3.71/kg for an R3 heifer for the week ending 5 May 2019.
However, John Sashi Nielsen says that in the supermarkets there beef is €80/kg to €100/kg. He will be back to defend the title of World's Best Steak this year.
In previous years, the title of World's Best Steak has gone to ABP Poland, the Polish division of ABP Food Group (2017) and the Australian cattle ranch Jack’s Creek, entered by Albers GMBH which has won twice (2016 and 2015).
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