Hereford is one of Britain’s best-known native beef breeds: red cattle with the distinctive white face, developed in Herefordshire and valued for hardiness, efficient grazing and consistent beef production.
Breed gives us useful context, but SteakHolder starts with the individual animal. We look at finish, conformation and suitability for ageing before deciding whether a roasting is right for release.
Native British beef breed
Red body, distinctive white face
Grazing efficiency, finish and suitability for dry ageing
The Hereford breed developed in Herefordshire and the surrounding counties. The first Hereford herd book was published in 1846 and the Hereford Cattle Society was founded in 1878.
Herefords are known for hardiness, adaptability and their ability to perform well in grass and forage-based systems.
Breed alone never guarantees eating quality, but Hereford beef is widely associated with marbling, tenderness and a full beef character.
For SteakHolder, provenance, conformation, fat cover, ageing and butchery all contribute to the final result.
SteakHolder is about buying selectively rather than simply buying by breed name. A Hereford animal with the right conformation and finish gives us the opportunity to dry-age the rib, loin and rump together and release the cuts from that individual animal.
The breed is only part of the decision. We select the individual beef for its finish and suitability for ageing, then show the details of that animal as part of the release.
That keeps SteakHolder selective rather than treating every animal of a particular breed as interchangeable.
Read how we prepare native breed beef for dry ageing, why the individual cut matters, and what happens before it reaches your kitchen.
RR002 is the current Hereford SteakHolder release. Two roastings from the same animal are being salt-aged together and released in finite numbers rather than as standard stock.
R4
Two roastings, one animal
28-day salt-aged
27 November
1-5 December
Rib, loin & rump
