Nelore and 70/30 Feeding: How Brazilian Beef Differs From Angus

01What the breed is

Nelore descends from the Indian Ongole breed, brought to Brazil back in the 19th century. It's a zebu: humped cattle with a short light coat and loose skin. That build gives the key trait: the animal copes easily with tropical heat and can live on pasture all year round.

• Nelore is the Asian branch (Bos indicus). Angus, Hereford, Simmental are the European branch (Bos taurus).
• Most regions of Brazil have no winter, so the cattle are on grass all year.
• Nelore puts on fat more slowly than British breeds, so grain finishing at the end matters.
• The carcass usually has less subcutaneous fat and less marbling at the same weight.

02Nelore vs Angus

Angus tends to lay down fat inside the muscle, hence the marbling, the creamy flavour and the tenderness. In Nelore the fat sits mostly outside and between the muscles: the cut surface is more even and redder, the grain firmer.

• Marbling

  Nelore (Astra Foods)

  Less, more visible fat cap

  Angus cross (Frigon)

  More, thanks to Angus

• Texture

  Nelore (Astra Foods)

  Firm, springy

  Angus cross (Frigon)

  Softer, like a familiar marbled steak

• Flavour

  Nelore (Astra Foods)

  Clean beef, without a heavy fatty note

  Angus cross (Frigon)

  Creamier, more fat

• Ribeye

  Nelore (Astra Foods)

  1.2-1.5 kg cut

  Angus cross (Frigon)

  Cut up to 3 kg

What it means on the grill

Don't take Nelore ribeye past medium: there's less fat inside, and the steak loses juice faster. On the plus side, there are fewer flare-ups from dripping fat over an open fire. The more marbled Frigon behaves more like what a cook used to Angus expects, and it's easier to save if a guest asks for well done.

03Why 70/30 feeding

Purely grass-fed beef is leaner, with yellowish fat and a grassy flavour, and it depends heavily on the season and the pasture. Purely grain-fed is more marbled, with white fat, but usually more expensive.

The 70/30 scheme takes what a kitchen needs from both. The base is pasture: it's cheaper and gives a clean beef flavour. Grain usually comes at the end of feeding: the fat cap evens out, the fat gets lighter, and the cut reaches a predictable weight.

• Cut size is stable: Astra ribeye at 1.2-1.5 kg, convenient for portions without «tails».
• Fat cap is even along the edge, visible even through the vacuum bag.
• Colour: light fat, evenly red meat, no seasonal yellowing.
• Consistency: one breed, one producer, one diet. No need to rewrite the menu for every batch.

04How to read the SIF stamp

SIF is Brazil's federal inspection service. Every meat plant approved for export works under its own SIF number, and that number appears in the stamp on the box and on the vacuum-bag label. It's the state's signature: the product was made at a plant under federal veterinary control.

• The SIF number on the box and on the bag label should match.
• The cut name is usually in Portuguese and English: Contrafilé is striploin, Filé mignon is tenderloin, Lagarto is eye round.
• Production date, best-before date, batch number.
• Storage temperature and net weight, to check against the delivery note.

The SIF stamp doesn't guarantee flavour; it guarantees origin and control. We import directly from Astra Foods and Frigon, so the stamp makes it easy to check that the cut came from exactly these plants.

05Why Brazil

Brazil is one of the largest beef exporters in the world. The reason is geography: grass all year, a large zebu herd and plants built for export. Production is large-scale and standardised, so a cut from one plant is predictable.

Brazilian beef travels to distant markets frozen, by container, and that's the standard, not a compromise. Factory freezing in vacuum keeps the moisture in the muscle. We control the cold chain ourselves: a warehouse in Mykolaiv at −18 °C, then Nova Poshta from a single box.

Astra (Nelore) and Frigon ribeye, striploin and filet mignon: today's prices, cut weight, orders from 5 kg.Steaks in the catalogue →