PITCHING into second place at Beef 2018 Pitch in the Paddock was a tool for taking objective carcass quality measurements.
MEQ Probe, chief executive officer, Jordy Kitchske said a lack of objective beef eating quality measurement was costing the industry.
“By the nature of beef production, there is a lot of variation in the eating quality of beef,” Mr Kitchske said.
“This results in consumers having a poor experience, or inconsistent experience.
“This results in people buying less beef, or not paying as much for it.”
Mr Kitchske said a consumer would pay two to three times as much for an excellent beef cut compared to an average one.
“To capitalise on this opportunity we must have an objective measure.
Mr Kitcshke said the hand-held MEQ Probe measured eating quality parameters in real-time from a hot carcass.
“It allows us insights into specific attributes that we know affect eating quality,” he said.
“Such as intra-muscular fat, shear force and pH.
“This leads to a raft of benefits and cost savings to producers and processors throughout the supply chain.”
Mr Kitcshke said the probe was based on medical technology used in cancer research.
“We have tested it on large farms of cattle and lamb,” he said.
“You simply poke the carcass, collect a spectral signature and apply an algorithm.
“That is converted to usable eating quality data.”
Mr Kichke said the the product was now in the process of being commercialised.
“We will be selling our product straight to the customer,” he said.
“We have a number of relationships with processors from around Australia.”
Mr Kichke said the company was looking to expand into the United States, by adopting a distributor model.
“There will be an installation fee as well as an on-going licence fee,” he said.
“This will allow us to update and improve our products with additional data sets that add value to our customers.”