Although Walmart is probably your best bet
for those times when you've just got to pick
up a cremation urn, a Halloween costume or
a pile of groceries twice your bodyweight,
there are still a few things you should really
shop for elsewhere.
Funnily enough, ground beef is one of them.
"But why can't we just buy our beef where
we want?"
You may ask, and you'd be forgiven for getting
a little frustrated at the idea of having
to go out of your way.
Well, one reason is its comparatively high
price.
When Kiplinger did a price check on various
Walmart items as compared to other retailers,
they found that Walmart's ground beef was
selling for more than $1 per pound higher
than that sold at discount grocer Aldi.
The Kitchn did their own price comparison,
this time Walmart versus Costco, and found
that, while the price of Walmart's regular
ground beef was only a few cents higher than
that of Costco, Walmart's organic ground beef
cost a whole dollar per pound more.
Of course, it shouldn't be a surprise that
the organic stuff is going to set you back
a little more, but that's still a heavy price
to pay — especially considering this next
point.
Not only is Walmart's ground beef not the
cheapest, but it can also tend to be lower
quality than the fresh stuff you get elsewhere.
All the meat sold at Walmart is what is known
as case-ready.
This means that it is prepared and packaged
at a meat packing plant rather than by an
in-store butcher department.
While case-ready meat may have a longer shelf
life than meat prepared onsite, it owes this
stability to treatments involving carbon dioxide
and saline solution… which doesn't sound
so tasty.
And if that's not off-putting enough, the
consumer reviews on Walmart's website tend
to be pretty negative, too.
One customer who purchased the five-pound
roll of 80 percent lean beef found gristle
and rubbery pieces in the meat, as well as:
"...a huge 5 ounce chunk of fat the size of
my palm."
Although they did give the beef a two-star
rating because their dog enjoys it, which
is at least something.
Another reviewer noted that:
"...the meat had so much gristle in it that
it was hard to choke down."
Yet another said it was too fatty, leading
her to suspect it was filled with water — or,
more likely, a saline solution, which, as
you know, is often used in the preparation
of case-ready meat.
And it's not only the 80 percent lean beef
that draws criticism.
The five-pound roll of 73 percent lean beef
was said by one purchaser to contain "an intact
artery" along with "an abnormal amount of
white chunks."
"Oh, that's so gross."
But that isn't even the worst of it — another
consumer reported finding chopped arteries
and hard pieces that may have been bone fragments
on more than one occasion, and even found
a piece of hay in it.
Rustic?
Sure.
Delicious?
Not so much.
Walmart announced in April 2019 that they
were looking to create a dedicated end-to-end
supply chain of Angus beef.
While Scott Neal, senior vice president at
Walmart U.S. Meat, announced in a press release
that this will allow the retailer to, quote,
"deliver consistent quality and value," this
system is not yet in place and it may take
them some time to work out all the kinks.
In an interview with Reuters, Jeremy Scott,
an analyst at Mizuho Financial Group, praised
this approach, but warned that it comes with
"plenty of risk and new variables."
Chief amongst these seems to be the fact that
the supply chain won't actually be able to
cover all of Walmart's beef needs, so some
products will still need to be sourced from
former supplier Tyson Foods.
Sounds like it might be a while yet before
Walmart achieves its goal of farm-to-table
transparency with its beef supply.
In the meantime, you might want to find your
ground beef at a different grocer.
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