trend
Beef Tallow Resurgence Means More Saturated Fat on Restaurant Plates
Beef tallow and lard are seeing a resurgence in foodservice, driven by chefs and consumers seeking flavor and 'traditional' fats. Coast Packing CEO Eric Gustafson noted the shift, indicating commodity markets and regulatory pressures are also playing a role. This means more saturated animal fats making their way into prepared foods beyond the home kitchen.
Beef tallow and lard are seeing a resurgence in foodservice, driven by chefs and consumers seeking flavor and 'traditional' fats. Coast Packing CEO Eric Gustafson noted the shift, indicating commodity markets and regulatory pressures are also playing a role. This means more saturated animal fats making their way into prepared foods beyond the home kitchen.
The architecture take
I'm watching this beef tallow trend like a hawk. On one hand, yes, ancestral eating is having a moment, and some folks feel better on higher fat, lower carb approaches. They'll tell you it's about traditional fats and avoiding seed oils, and I get that. But then there's the 'foodservice' angle. This isn't about you rendering your own fat at home; this is restaurants and industrial kitchens opting for cheaper, more shelf-stable animal fats. It shifts the burden of metabolic load — more saturated fat, often fried — onto the average consumer who might not even realize what's in their food. This isn't a nuanced health choice on the individual level. It's a commodity market decision that'll just quietly change the fat profile of restaurant food, which ultimately lands on your plate, affecting your gut and lipid profile. Watch for this showing up in everything from fried chicken to pastries, making it harder to track what you're actually putting into your body.