Rebranding Beef: Industry Markets More Affordable Cuts Of Steak

For generations, beef shoulder was a blue-collar cut of cow, fit for the meat grinder or crockpot but not much else.

But where others saw pot roast, Tony Mata saw potential.

Mata is a Dallas meat scientist whose mission is to find hidden gems in rough parts of the steer. He and a team of researchers came up with the industry's newest steak by mining the muscle under the shoulder blade for a tender pad of flesh.

Unveiled last year at a trade show, the meat is starting to land on restaurant menus. At about $6 a pound, it sells for twice the price of hamburger and has a catchy name to boot: the Vegas Strip Steak.

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