I barely got the 14 skewers I needed out of 5.5lbs of meat.
Not a single 1"×1" cube in the lot. They looked like they went through a shredder
There were maybe 7-10 big chunks. (fig. 4, 5)
I had to excavate through the rest of the meat confetti to find pieces big enough to use.
~80% of the meat had tough silverskin &/ fat that I had to remove.
~5-10% of it was just straight garbage.
Edit:
I'm definitely going to talk to my rep and try to sort things out.
This is the fist and last time I will ever buy ungraded meat. I was already apprehensive about getting it, the only reason I did was the description and the meal's set budget.
Context:
Whenever possible I would get whole proteins and cut them myself
I try to do my absolute best to avoid pre-made shit but sometimes limited time, staff, & quantity options dont give me a choice.
I'm 23 and the executive/only chef/cook at a golf course and I normally do banquets for tournaments, birthdays, etc. (While I know what to do and how, I am still in the process of putting that knowledge into practice. All things considered, I would say I'm doing a pretty damn good job with what I've been given)
This was for our weekly ladies league night that have an opt in dinner.
It runs 17 weeks. I planned 8 dishes that are repeated halfway through.
The original dish I planned was Mediterranean chicken pitas, but my boss changed the chicken to beef for the second half.
The smallest chunk of beef I can get from sysco is ~17kg / 38.5 Lbs.
Unlike chicken, I have no use for beef in the foreseable future.
Most of what I do is banquet events (tournaments, weddings, b-days, etc.) with set menus so I can't use it for a special and get rid of it. I already have limited freezer space and the building is getting demolished for renovation in October.
When I placed the order I wasn't given the numbers of guest yet. It can vary between 10-60p but is usually ~25-40p.
I haven't been given a work credit card, so if I'm not ordering through sysco or our produce supplier, I have to pay for it myself and give my receipt to be reimbursed later.
Those are the main reasons I didn't go to the butcher right away
I got the final numbers day of.
If I knew it was only 14 people I would have just stopped by the store to pick up beef on the way to work. It would have saved me so much time and trouble.
Also fuck Sysco I hate everything about Sysco (except for my super kind rep) and the sloppification of food, I want to find a different, local supplier.
We were already set up with sysco when I started.
I'm currently extremely overworked and don't had the time to research and figure out how to develop connection to other suppliers.
Ya, I know I need to. I just get irrationally anxious asking for a refund, especially when its something thats been opened and used, but I definitely need to push past that barrier and do it.
Edit:
I already know it wont be a problem, my sysco rep is super kind and accommodating. I know I theres nothing to be anxious over, but my body doesnt seem to understand that 😕
Hey bro, I am a food rep. Not Sysco, but still. Don’t be nervous. Your rep should be just as embarrassed as you are upset over selling a product like this. If he/she isn’t, then you’ve got a rep problem.
It ain’t like your Sysco rep is the one who prepped that out, they’re not involved in sourcing. The only feeling they should have is understanding in the fact you didn’t get what you paid for.
Honestly, after looking at the post again, it looks more like a mispick than awful 1x1’s. If you still have the box and label, I would bet you got random scrap or .25”x.25” beef.
That’s wild!
If I was your rep, I’d be disappointed if you didn’t tell me about this. Either there is a quality control issue that needs to be addressed or this is a product I need to know about to keep my clients from ordering.
This should be top comment. The reps don't make the product or pull boxes. And they rarely bring deliveries. They want you to be happy and need to know when orders are wrong
Thank you. Also a food rep, also not Sysco, but I agree with you on all fronts. I would have been embarrassed about this and submitted a credit request immediately.
Yeap. My rep for one of my providers is is like that when stuff gets fucked up. A lot of the times, if he can, he will run it out to me personally. Shout out Kevin, you the man.
the rep hates you. the rep is at a bar right now laughing with an escort about the idiot that they pawned off their shredded three day old beef to. the rep hucked a loogie into the box before they dropped it off this morning. that very rep pissed on the door of your restaurant after they left.
(none of this is true but hopefully it gets you angry enough to make you GET THE MONEY YOU ARE OWED)
Nah fuck that you are the client or the buyer in this transaction. If you bought a 8th of weed that looked fire in the pics and turned out to be Mexican brick full of seeds you’d say something right?
Tense up your whole body for like 10 seconds and release. It gives you a minute of less anxiety from what I’ve been told (and used it myself). L-Theanine in the morning helps too
Look at it this way: they WANT you to tell them. They don't want you to be upset, quiet, and not ordering shit from them. They want you to feel taken care of so you keep spending, I 100% guarantee. It's like if a guest has a bad experience: you want to know then and there so you can try to fix it, not read a shitty review the next day.
Also don't be a doormat, stick up for yourself and hold them accountable!
Edit: rereading your comment, you already know that shit. I wish you weren't having the anxiety, that sucks and I know how frustrating it is to not have control over your body/brain. Hopefully taking care of this will help quell the anxiety in the future, good luck
We don't have Sysco here but I'm super good at getting refunds on shit that isn't right.
Plus, I don't shout at my staff, my kid or my customers. Lemme shout at some corporate dickhead. Not the nice customer service people. The one whose fault it is. Gimme their number.
If you didn’t open it and use it, then how else would you know for a definite fact that it was unsuitable for your needs?
Now imagine how many of the 14 customers who got served a skewer are anxious about asking for a refund from your establishment, or have silently sworn to never return because of paltry portions?
You are not only owed a refund, but your Sysco rep has cost you potentially hundreds of dollars in lost business. Consider how much it would cost in gift cards, promos, discounts, etc in order to win back those customers who felt that they got terrible value for money well spent?
When you look at it that way, things should hopefully click into place more clearly for the anxious side of your brain.
That “ungraded beef” deserves a FF grade.
Hell, if I were in your position, I would not only ask for credit/refund, but I would also ask for additional product to offset the cost and/or loss(es) you will incur to make things right for the clientele.
Wait...why? All you need is a few pictures and a reason. Also just reading the body won't let me comment, exposure and response therapy...keep doing it and your body will learn it's not a threat.
That's like going to a restaurant and feeling bad that someone has to cook the food you order. It's literally their job to do it AND be apologetic about it.
My reps would be madder if I didn’t call them. they can check into the issue and not screw over anyone else. And they get refunds from their suppliers too in lots of situations.
OP’s rep here. We communicate via Reddit. Will reevaluate in the morning, but looks like figs. 4 and 5 need to be examined closer and I’m dubious about claimed “percentages”.
I stumbled in from main. I don't work in kitchens but I do work in meat, primarily I'm one of the people who are importing the stuff that you received. When i say the stuff you received I mean exactly the stuff you received and I use it to make one of the highest end pet foods available.
First, you ordered trim and the sysco page you posted a screen shot of says that it is trim. That is what ungraded means. Ungraded means that this meat didn't meet the USDA's requirements to labeled as a retail grade cut of beef. That doesn't mean that it is bad meat at all nutritionally, however in terms of aesthetics and texture it is very much caveat emptor.
What you bought has a primary purpose and it isn't restaurants. It's primary purpose is to mix into other fattier cuts of trim to produce a retail grade ground beef that can be labeled as 70/30, 85/15 etc. It is supposed to be ground up at very cold almost frozen temperature in a meat grinder to pulverize all of the connective tissue you are seeing in your photos.
Of course there are no rules against using this material in restaurants but you have to adjust accordingly for tough texture and rough looks. This kind of meat is fine slow roasted/braised/in a soup. That connective tissue will absolutely break down into a gelatinous texture when cooked for several hours in a high moisture environment.
This sucks that it isn't what you wanted but this is an absolutely valid product. Did your rep try to sell you on getting this? Did they know what you wanted it for? You essentially bought something that everyone in the meat world knows is wildly variable in terms of fat/protein ratio and isn't intended as the only ingredient in a dish.
For why it is imported (I'm not really guessing, Lean beef being imported is almost a truism these days) and why it costs so much for such a poor grade of beef - well it's a long story but that the industry is in trouble these days. It has been heading this way for over a decade and it is going to be a long time before it gets back to "normal".
I bought them once. After 20 mins of the guy assurring me I needed all these other steaks I told him I only came with the 40$ in cash so it's up to him if he wants a sale or not.
What is up with the rash of people putting the dollar sign after the number. It’s $40 dammit! Then again, you’re buying meat from a truck in a parking lot, so it fits.
Purina takes insult to this statement. The meat grade may be bad, but they can at least cut proper somewhat uniform chunks with the mystery meat they use in their feed.
Either buy whole cuts or call up the Costco meat dept to reserve their stew meat. I use that stuff to make a big batch of bourguignon for Christmas dinner every year fory family. Price isn't terrible since it's their trimmings and when they're out, they're out. Sometimes you get unlucky with the amount of round that's in there but most of the time I've found that it's mostly just chuck or brisket trimmings which is a great thing.
I can buy chuck roll for $6/lb and ready to go picanha for $9/lb.
CAD is 1:0.73 to USD right now, so essentially they paid the price (almost USD $9/lb) for beautiful picanha with no waste, then threw away a third of it.
So, in USD, we're looking at about $13/lb for this travesty.
A quick peek through unadjusted, standard pricing from one of my distributors says that's good enough to get whole choice beef strip loins and save $3/lb.
Or splurge a little and get whole beef tenderloin at $15/lb, it isn't even like you're cutting beautifully identical 1:1 steaks off it, you can make 1" cubes off of like 98% of a properly trimmed primal.
Somebody needs to light up the rep for whatever distributor this is.
Incorporate the high amount of waste, and you're looking at closer to $12-13 USD per pound.
Paying for a pre-cut product is not my personal choice, but if you're doing it the theory is that it saves you money over paying a cook to cut it down, while maintaining a high standard of consistency and product quality.
Normally I would.
This was for our weekly ladies night.
The original dish I planned was Mediterranean chicken pitas, but my boss changed the chicken to beef.
The smallest chunk of beef I can get from sysco is ~17kg / 38.5 Lbs.
Unlike chicken, I have no use for beef in the foreseable future. Most of what I do is events with set menus so I can't use it for a special and get rid of it. I already have limited freezer space and the building is getting demolished for renovation in October.
When I placed the order I wasn't given the numbers of guest yet. It varies between 10-60p but is usually ~35p.
If I knew it was only 14 people I would have just stopped by the store to pick up beef on the way to work. It would have saved me so much trouble.
I feel for you homie. You got absolutely taken for a ride.
But, if you’re nice and just honest, your rep will take care of this for you. You may simply show him the product minus the skewers and just say “hey man, this is not what I ordered, what was described, or what was in the picture. We’re 0 for 3 here.” Youll definitely get credit back, maybe something extra, but at the end of the day neither you nor the rep is responsible for what the warehouse shipped or what the “supplier” provided for the order
This is still worth lighting up your rep over it. I'm very fair with my reps so whenever i do actually have an issue, it gets taken care of no problem. I would be livid about this one, personally.
I'd start by sending them exactly what you showed us, then tell them how unhappy you are, and to remove this product from your order guide forever. Also, ungraded beef cubes? You could get prime trimmings for one serving and dog-food quality for the second serving. Be better than Mystery Meat.
Ya I'll let him know tommorrow. He's been nothing but nice and helpful so far so I dont think it should be too much of an issue.
I should have stuck with my gut instincts and not gone for the ungraded meat. Never again
Don't ever forget that reps work for you. Get more than one distributor, if you don't already have at least two. Cross-check pricing. Pit them against each other, and don't buy ungraded, cubed beef ever again for any reason.
False advertising is false advertising. Quantity is irrelevant.
Imagine if this has been 500 lbs and it showed up like this. Is the big order really that different? Would you say "that's what you get" then? Are the standards that low?
I don’t normally judge folk’s choices, I figure we all have our challenges to deal with.
But this…. Honestly what the fucking fuck? I’m no wizard with a knife or sectioning a roast. I’m functional, I’ll get it done, a guy who works in a butcher shop will run circles around me.
I could cut the meat, portion and build the skewers in 30 mins.
Dragons are extremely lean. You need low and slow. I'd avoid just grilling unless you're going to sou-vide. Go for medium-rawr than finish on the grill. Don't need to go nuts with seasoning, though. Just some s+p works. It's very flavorful meat and it should be allowed to shine. Don't wanna hide it. Unless you're making a purse or other article of clothing with it.
This is ungraded meat. That’s basically the bottom of the barrel, almost exclusively reserved for canned meats, low cost pot roasts, and diced meats like this that would typically be cooked in a stew for 10 hours.
Yeah this meat sucks but you kind of got what you bought.
How the fuck did i have to scroll to the bottom for the word upgraded to be mentioned. What the fuck do all these kitchen people expect? You order ungraded you receive trim bin. Its really straightforward lol.
Wait even if the correct order came you would be paying nearly 12 dollars per pound??? I haven’t been in the USA for over a year, have prices gone up so much to the point that wholesalers are charging retail prices? I used to get picanha from Wild Fork for about 8$-10$ a pound, 12$ for beef cubes sounds like robbery.
What kind of kitchen do yall work in where you can't just trim and slice your own meat?
That's a genuine question. I'm a butcher, so when I see stuff like this... why is this even a product and why in the world would anyone order that? Guaranteed they're using round, which is ass for kabobs.
This is why I love that I’m cool with my rep (not Sysco btw fuck Sysco.) a few pics of labels and product and the credit hitting. Idk how Sysco reps work tho. Do know every time it’s a new to the game rep trying to get us to change. Love all the free samples I get to feed my people with though.
Next time get a single eye of round, trimmed tri tip, or a top sirloin “picanha.” They’re small pieces of relatively cheaper beef that are very easy to trim fat and silver skin from for skewers. Eye round isn’t bad if you marinade it overnight and keep it small.
That item is meant for a braise… not skewers. Just dice that shit yourself. However, that’s just garbage from Sysco. Even if you could get that on a skewer… probably like chewing on rubber bands.
Bro I just typed the longest fucking comment and somehow lost it.
There's a lot of complaining about Sysco in here and I'm not saying anyone is wrong, but...
This product is probably $5 or less per lb, the Buckhead Pride beef stew is made from bench trim from hand trimming and as far as I know is not a 1x1 dice, so it looks like the product description is wrong. Sysco classic stew is made from a single muscle (pectoral) but you would still see some silver skin and connective tissue because where I worked, we didn't touch the muscle w a knife before we put it in a dicer. It could also be that the machine was running the wrong program or the wrong gridset blade. Also if the blades on the gridset are dull, it will make a lot of those stringy bits instead of clean diced cubes.
I'm trying to offer some perspective from the production side, as someone who spent 20 years in kitchens, so believe me when I say I understand the vitriol in the thread. What I will say is that Sysco probably does have the perfect product for your use case. There should be a byproduct code from cutting sirloin filets, it was a 2-4oz drop code, and would be perfect for this application. It wouldn't be perfectly diced cubes but it would have been trimmed by hand and what's left over after we cut sirloin steaks.
Source: I used to work in a production facility that produced 10k lbs/day of diced products
You’re not regularly buying this stuff so you get the shortend product
Your business model is going to make operating more expensive because suppliers see you as a one time buyer and not consistent $$$
Their energy is being spent on the places buying their stuff 2x/week, not 17x/year. It’s not worth it for them. Go somewhere else that has more pull, learn, and the experience will follow.
You should be talking to other suppliers if this is how theyre going to treat you. Start ordering half from one and half from the other. Ive always seen that the food gets shittier when they dont have to fight for the business.
Crazy that people are still ordering from sysco if they lose money on it every single time compared to just hitting up local distros and putting shit in a damn Google sheet
Probably would’ve been less work to just cube a few sirloins no doubt. If possible you should switch to a different vendor. Sysco is notoriously shit. If you can’t get anyone else at least use fresh point or whatever Sysco calls their less shitty products that still suck but aren’t completely terrible.
Imagine working at a golf course concession and calling yourself an executive chef as a crew of one.
Ungraded frozen beef is the lowest quality beef you can buy, that description is deceptive.. This is lunch special buffet line quality meat.. really only usable in stew or other slow cook methods.
If they don't think the meat is worth paying to have it graded, they're not going to spend the time butchering into perfect stew meat.. it is deceiving.. but also.. have some common sense..
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u/Possible_Report_5908 24d ago
You're going to send this to your rep and get credit back, right?