Our business supplies raw beef to caterers. We receive a number of complaints from customers not happy with their perceived 'toughness' of a product (steaks & roasting joints) after they have cooked it. Although customer satisfaction is clearly very important it is my view the raw product was accepted (Suggesting that the product was visually organoleptically acceptable).and cooked (further processed) by the customer The toughness of a joint after cooking is outside of our control and not necessarily a conclusive indicator of a poor-quality raw material. Although breed and grading of beef can be an indicator of potential eating quality there are so many other variables (including individual consumer preference) that could result in the finished product going either way. You could take an excellent pedigree cut and cook or season it poorly and it could be delicious to one person and disgusting to another.
In order to take into account variation in customer cooking equipment we provide a fairly non prescriptive cooking instruction based on Campden BRI (Core 70°C for two minutes). However it is clear from the images of 'affected' products that this instruction (and overcooking) is not the cause (products mostly rare-medium/rare).
All complaints take time to respond to.
Am I being unreasonable?
Should we continue to accept complaints or this nature?
Is the cook instruction the issue?
Any thoughts appreciated.