C.A.B. Meat Grade

Stock up!! Certified Angus is and advertising/ marketing term. if it said certified Barangus or Limosine or Galloway in the end it's just choice beef.

Like Bludawg said, it is not a grade but a brand/marketing term. Never seen CAB that even faintly resembled prime, but it is a consistently good choice "grade" beef. Compare prices based on the choice side of the spectrum IMO.

There are other requirements to be CAB other than just grade. Age, weight, etc. It is better than just choice.

You could see some Prime in the lesser cuts like brisket and chuck, CAB steaks will almost always just be Choice. CAB is restricted to maturity A and modest to moderate marbling. You won't see small marbling or maturity B like you will with just a Choice label, so it is the better portion of the Choice rating.

As far as brisket, there is little to no wholesale premium for anything above Select grade. Select will have less fat and higher yield so restaurants will have a higher food cost with Choice or Prime even if they do not pay a per pound premium.

Many packers will not isolate and sell brisket, chuck, or round as Prime because there is a very limited market and it is not worth the effort to segregate and merchandise it as Prime.

Also, there is plenty of Choice beef selling for > $11/pound online. Go to some of the online steak places and try to find the word 'Prime'.

Cayman1 said:

There are other requirements to be CAB other than just grade. Age, weight, etc. It is better than just choice.

Click to expand...

This.

It is also a marketing tactic, but simply regurgitating that statement without listing/acknowledging the facts of CAB can be misleading. If anyone hasn't read about CAB check it out. I buy whatever brisket looks good regardless of CAB or not so not promoting them at all. Just like it when folks have the facts enough to form their own opinions. See if the additional "specs" CAB looks for is something valuable to you. Most of the time at Restaurant Depot I do buy the CAB because they look better than the non-CAB choice.

https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/faq.php
http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/cuts/grades.aspx
https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/brand/specs.php

Work at a restaurant for many years and we were a CAB brand house which meant that a certain percent of our beef had to be CAB brand beef from an approved source. They were very picky about how we marketed the brand and even would check our menu occasionally to ensure we stayed true... Yes, there are various factors that qualify a cut for CAB brand status and I always thought the CAB Brand beef I bought was a nice upgrade from normal Choice options available to me from Sysco/US Foods etc.