SPRINGDALE, ARK. – According to a new Tyson Foods-commissioned report from Technomic Inc., more foodservice operators want a streamlined process for meats and menu components when ordering for their restaurants.

In the study, “Fresh Meat Purchasing, Menuing and Influence Among Restaurant Operators,” Tyson and Technomic set out to understand the dynamics of fresh beef and pork menu products and new product decision-making among restaurants for both fast-casual and full service.

“Through this research, we found that highlighting fresh beef and pork’s versatility is extremely important, especially for independent restaurants,” said Ozlem Worpel, director of marketing, Tyson Fresh Meats. “We sincerely appreciate our foodservice partners’ transparency and look forward to further supporting them by sharing the profit potential we believe to be associated with beef and continuing to co-develop creative pork-based menu solutions to boost consumer demand for pork.”

Technomic said 150 chefs and other restaurant people participated in the survey. The research included independent operators, small chains and larger restaurant groups. Restaurants included fast-casual operations along with full-service segments like midscale, casual dining and fine dining.

The study also found that while beef is considered a high demand menu component, many operators view it as less profitable than other menu items due to calculating profitability based on percentage of total food cost. However, the higher menu price associated with beef generally translates to higher profit per plate than other items.

Some other key findings included the rise of fresh, all-natural, and no antibiotics as key attributes for a restaurant when looking at beef and pork. Operators also said they can no longer store slow-moving products and seek to simplify menus across meals and dayparts.

Lastly, positioning new menu ideas as limited-time offerings (LTO) is a favorable proposition for operators, with a better chance of that item ending up on the menu permanently.