Producers of meat products scamming

[beekeeper84]

So I have been thinking about this post for awhile but I have worked in a couple of meat processing plants and recently one of them that uses/used Walton’s seasoning was not mixing the meat-seasoning ratio correctly. They would take a 50 or 100lbs batch of meat to a bag of seasoning which called for 25lbs of meat. At first I thought I read the bag wrong but after rereading it I was correct. I feel like that’s a scam but wanna hear y’all’s thoughts.

[gus4416]

Well they aren’t getting the flavor that they should be for sure

[beekeeper84]

gus4416 yes and you can tell there’s like no flavor in it. People try mine and there shocked.

[HerbcoFood]

They are only hurting themselves unless they have cornered the market on people with no tastebuds.

[Dave in AZ]

I wouldn’t consider that a “scam” at all. Just a flavoring choice, or economic choice. Scam implies they are doing something sneaky, or not delivering something customers paid for. Neither of those is true, they just aren’t using an ingredient at the high rate it’s manufacturer recommends. So what? Most all products recommend the max amount they can get away with, so you buy more. Doesn’t make their recommendation right or somehow sacrosanct. I use less salt in a lot of recipes, less eggs, etc. I use 2x the water in drink mixes, that is how my family likes it. I use about 1/4 the recommended Nestle Quik when making chocolate milk, I like a more dilute flavor. Most bacon recipes I read here use only half the salt that is recommended in most books I have, 3 to 4%.

Almost all sausage recipes have a widely acceptable range of spice application for a particular style, usually 1 to 3 gram per kg of meat… that means up to 3 times or 1/3 the spice mix. I constantly tweak black pepper, nutmeg, sage, garlic, red pepper and more, up and down 50% or more from printed recipes, depending on how I like some flavor.
Heck, I don’t like double IPAs, and I certainly wouldn’t consider a brewer using half the hops and barley and making a Pale Ale that I do like, as a “scam”.
So while it may change the flavor, changing the spice mix ratio used is a reasonable control any manufacturer might choose to do to their product.
In fact, reducing expensive ingredient use while looking at how that affects overall sales is EXACTLY the sort of smart economic decision you pay folks with expensive degrees to analyze and make to ensure profits for a business. It may well be that more folks like a blander meat product, it certainly is true of most products.

Just a different perspective than yours on how we look at the freedom chefs have to create their food, I guess.

[Departing Contestant]

Dave in AZ
very well spoken. it is there loss. wonder what their meat block was…Sweeney Todd anyone

[processhead]

I’m not sure scam is the right word to describe this either. Depending on their customer’s preferences, they may be getting a product with the flavor profile the majority of their customers prefer.
If most of their customers do find that it is too bland, they will stop buying it and find another supplier. That would be a marketing decision that would be counter productive to remaining in business.

The meat is going to be the most expensive raw material going into the product. Cutting back on the seasoning just to save money really doesn’t make much sense from a material cost standpoint.

Using 1/2 to 1/4 of the total recommended seasoning amount still doesn’t sound like a way to make a good sausage though.

Do you know what the particular seasoning that was being used?

[beekeeper84]

processhead all of em every brat they make is that way. I do see what your saying I guess I just feel like the customer isn’t getting what they paid for in my mind.

[processhead]

beekeeper84 said in Producers of meat products scamming:

processhead all of em every brat they make is that way. I do see what your saying I guess I just feel like the customer isn’t getting what they paid for in my mind.

Just curious, have you tried any of them, or know anyone who has? If so, how were they?

[mrobisr]

Dave in AZ Nothing to add good comment.

[beekeeper84]

processhead very weak flavored

[processhead]

beekeeper84
If they are depending on repeat sales to remain a viable business, they may find customers stop buying their product after the first purchase.
Not exactly a good or smart business model, but also probably not a scam.

[beekeeper84]

processhead the problem is these customers have no idea. There all convinced he has the best stuff. I’m not in a position to sell meat (laws and regulations) so there is no “education” that I can dish out. As I said I do value your opinion as well I just feel torn on the subject cause one hand it’s his business what he does but on the other alot of his customers are also customers of mine or friends (small town politics play a role in this as well) hate seeing people spend money especially due to prices recently on a sub par product simply because no one else around does it.

[Grimpuppy]

I don’t think it is anymore of a scam than adding water to increase volume, which almost every producer does. Everyone that tries my stuff says it is way better than what they get from our local locker, but that doesn’t mean they are scamming people because their products aren’t as good as they could be.

[processhead]

beekeeper84 I can understand your situation, with all the parties being in a small community like yours where everyone knows each other. No one wants to be an a$$, and so you kind of have to swallow your feelings and move on.