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Skip the Labor, Serve Up Big Flavor with a Flat Iron Steak

Published: February 25, 2025

These days, diners are eating more steak, and there’s an opportunity to stand out with a difficult-to-butcher cut. 

In fact, 60% of diners ate beef steak at least every three weeks in 2023—up from 56% in 2021 and 50% in 2018.1 As more of your customers seek steak, you have an opportunity to stand out with a menu item that most restaurants can’t offer: flat iron steak. 

Huge Flavor that is Tough to Get      

The flat iron steak is the second-most tender cut of beef, beaten only by the filet mignon. On top of that, it’s full of flavor because it’s packed between two highly-developed muscles in the shoulder clod—but you won’t find it on many menus. If you’re trimming your own primal, it takes skill, time and tons of practice to get great flat iron steaks. Plus, each animal only produces four of these cuts. The effort can be worth it, because consumer awareness of the steak is growing. Despite the difficulty in getting it, the flat iron has seen +5% menu penetration growth over 12 months.2

How Do Your Diners Want to Eat a Steak?

Steak is seeing an increase in menu penetration, but the new menu items appearing in market aren’t necessarily typical steak dishes. While breakfast (and brunch) is still huge with millennials, diners are looking for dishes that do more. High protein breakfasts are growing in demand—51% of millennials are interested in them. But only 56% of operators menu high-protein breakfast options.3 Additionally, 58% of millennials and 45% of consumers overall are seeking out premium meats for breakfast.1 So a flat iron steak can fulfill the need for protein-heavy breakfasts and the desire for premium meats. 

Overcoming the In-House Challenges 

Back-of-house labor is still difficult to find. Chefs and cooks are the hardest positions to fill, and they’re 30% of the open positions on the market.5 To add to that, the cost of hiring a new employee in the hospitality industry is coming out to about $5,864 on average. 6

Many operators are looking for efficiency and dependability in the kitchen. Even though consumers are looking for more premium items, your staff might not have the time nor the skills to properly butcher a whole chuck primal. But there are solutions to the skilled labor issues. 

Make it Easier with IBP Trusted Excellence® Flat Iron Steaks 

At ibp Trusted Excellence® brand, we understand the difficulty that you face as an operator. And we know that your customers are looking for exciting cuts that can be difficult to butcher. So, we are offering the ibp Trusted Excellence® Flat Iron Steak to ease your back-of-house workload and help add an exciting new offering to your menu. It’s already trimmed and pre-portioned when you get it, so this cut doesn’t require any butchery knowledge. Best of all, the flat iron steak is incredibly forgiving. It remains tender when cooked past medium rare, and it still offers huge flavor. 

The ibp Trusted Excellence® Flat Iron Steak is the perfect center-plate star—whether you’re using the whole cut or a smaller portion. Best of all, it’s perfect for any daypart. Use it in a protein-forward steak and egg dish or grill it up and slice it for a steak sandwich at lunch. With so much flavor, it works perfectly as a premium steak dish, too. This versatile cut is no longer out of reach for your establishment—in fact, it can help solve your back-of-house labor pains. 

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Sources

1        Technomic, COP: Beef & Pork Consumer Trend Report, 2024

2        Datassential, Menu Trends, 2024

3        Datassential, Breakfast Keynote Report, 2024

4        Technomic, National Food Trends, 2024

5        Expert Market, Food and Beverage Industry Trends 2024

6        Push, The State of the Industry Report 2024

7        QSR, 10 Trends Reshaping Restaurants as 2024 Arrives, Dec 2023