Current usage and future development of the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading system

Progress in the development and adoption of the Meat Standards Australia system has encouraged substantial change and an improved consumer awareness at all points of the Australian beef production chain. The system is moving from niche to mainstream market application with the exciting potential to transform many industry practices and build a more direct consumer focus. The system aims to accurately predict consumer satisfaction levels for individual cooked beef portions. This is a major advance on grading systems that classify carcasses into groups of like appearance. A prediction model was developed based on consumer testing and has proved to be useful in categorising a wide range of beef into consumer grades within cooking methods. These provide a basis to ensure a predictable eating quality result for the consumer and a mechanism to align product description and pricing throughout the production chain. When used in value-based marketing systems financial reward can be directly linked to consumer satisfaction encouraging a consumer-focussed industry. Research is proceeding to extend and improve the accuracy of the prediction model encompassing additional cattle types and cooking methods. Several projects in other countries are adding insights into the relative response of consumers from varied cultural backgrounds. It is hoped that further international collaboration will facilitate use of the developed technology to improve consumer value and industry returns through improved product consistency in global markets.