ST. LOUIS - While shoppers throughout this city know Straub's as a destination for top-quality meats, they're still not immune to sticker-shock.
So when Straub's earlier this month introduced the well-regarded - but very expensive - American Kobe beef for the first time, it did so by offering it in an affordable ground chuck, explained Trip Straub, the fourth-generation owner of the four-store, family-run chain. The hope is that as shoppers' appetites progress from burgers to steaks, their budgets can expand accordingly.
"The way we introduce those high-quality but high-price items is bringing the chucks we can grind into patties at a lower price point and let them taste the difference," Straub told SN. "We can show them that it's not such a risk buying $50-a-pound strip steak, as opposed to $22-a-pound strip steak."
The ground Kobe chuck, Straub said, retails for just $8.99 a pound. He said he is confident that shoppers will take to the new offering and be more likely to purchase Kobe strip steaks - renowned for their tenderness and taste - at a higher price point when they become available. "It's not for the masses," Straub said, "but there are certainly some demographics that will go for it."
