Where’s the beef (from)?

Delmonico’s customers can determine the origin of their steak by using their smart phones in the restaurant.

When a customer takes a seat at the venerated Delmonico’s steakhouse in New York City, are they thinking about where their steak comes from? That point is debatable, but the restaurant has employed new technology that eliminates the need for any customer to discuss sourcing with their server.

Now, patrons at the 175-year-old steakhouse can use their smart phones to scan a bar code on the menu to access information on the origins of the beef they order. The QR code appears under the Where Food Comes From logo at the bottom of the menu. “By providing our customers with an unprecedented level of transparency and connecting them to the source of the food they order, we offer them an additional layer of confidence that they are eating the finest beef available anywhere,” says Dennis Turcinovic, managing partner of Delmonico’s.

The steakhouse has long maintained that its beef comes from a pure and single breed born and raised in the U.S., and that no added hormones are used. It also has stood by its claim that its animal have been humanely raised and handled and that they consume a 100 percent vegetarian diet. They are claims few would have reasons to doubt, but the Where Food Comes From label implies that customers don’t have to accept Delmonico’s word because an independent third party has verified the source of their beef and that it has met specific production and quality requirements. For the restaurant, the menu label serves as both a marketing tool and an opportunity for it to boast about the quality beef it offers.

The Where Food Comes From tool was created by Integrated Management Information (IMI), which provides verification and Internet solutions for the agriculture/livestock industry. Delmonico’s is the first steakhouse to feature the tool.