After more than 20 years of raising animals on pasture, we know that good beef starts long before it reaches the butcher’s counter. Breed, diet, animal care, and processing all contribute to the final product. We believe customers should understand what they are buying. Which is why we use three internal quality categories – Platinum, Premium, and Regal – to describe the beef we raise and sell.
In Canada, beef processed through federally or provincially inspected facilities may receive an official grade. As a farm-direct operation, we use our own categories to share more about the characteristics of our beef.
So, what do the official Canadian beef grades mean? And how does Beverly Creek assess its own beef?
Here is what you need to know.
How the Canadian Beef Grading System Works
Canada has four top-quality beef grades: A, AA, AAA, and Prime. Together, they represent most commercially graded beef in the country.
Official grading takes place at an approved processing facility. A trained grader assesses the carcass using a number of characteristics, including:
- The animal’s maturity
- Meat colour
- Fat colour
- Fat coverage
- Muscling
- Meat texture
Once a carcass meets all of those standards, the grade is determined by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat, also known as marbling.
Canada A
Trace marbling. The lowest of the four top grades, representing around 2–3% of graded beef. Still meets all quality criteria, but leaner cuts with less intramuscular fat.
Canada AA
Slight marbling. The grade you’ll most commonly find at grocery stores and everyday restaurants. Solid everyday quality – reliable flavour and tenderness, around 45% of graded beef.
Canada AAA
Small to moderate marbling. The most widely produced top-grade beef in Canada – around 50% of graded carcasses. Richer flavour and better texture than AA, versatile for a wide range of cooking methods. This is the grade most people have in mind when they say “high-quality steak.”
Canada Prime
Slightly abundant to abundant marbling. The top of the Canadian system, representing around 2–5% of graded beef. Deep flavour, exceptional tenderness, and fat distribution that holds moisture across any cooking method. You’d find it at a high-end steakhouse or premium butcher.
Importantly, terms like “Prime” are protected. A business cannot market beef as Prime unless it has been officially graded and certified through the Canadian grading system.
Why Beverly Creek Has Its Own Grading System
Beverly Creek is a small, farm-direct operation. We raise Red and Black Angus cattle on our own land in Millgrove, Ontario, and sell beef directly to customers. Because we produce and sell beef on a smaller scale, we don’t have an official grading inspector on-site for every animal. Instead, our senior butcher assesses each carcass using their experience in animal processing and understanding of the characteristics we value in our beef.
To help customers understand what they are ordering, we created our own internal categories:
- Platinum
- Premium
- Regal
Note: These categories are based on our assessment of characteristics such as marbling, fat coverage, muscling, maturity, and meat appearance. They are not Canadian government grades and do not replace official grading.
Why Beverly Creek Has Its Own Grading System
Our Grading System: Platinum, Premium, and Regal
Platinum
Platinum is our top category. Beef in this category has strong, even marbling, good fat coverage, youthful maturity, and well-developed muscling. These are the cuts that show the characteristics we look for when assessing the highest-quality beef from our herd.
Premium
Premium beef has good marbling, consistent fat coverage, and the qualities we want to see in a versatile, quality-standard beef selection. Most of our All Natural beef range sits here, and for good reason: Premium is full-flavoured and a reliable choice for the widest range of cuts and cooking methods.
Regal
Regal is our leanest category. The beef still comes from youthful, well-managed animals and is assessed for meat colour, fat coverage, muscling, texture, and overall condition. Regal beef contains less intramuscular fat than our other categories, giving it a leaner profile and a distinct character. It appears most often in our Grass-Fed range, where the animals’ diet naturally produces less marbling. More on that below.
How a Grade Is Earned
The final characteristics of beef are shaped well before the butcher’s assessment. Breed, diet, age, and animal care all play a role in what we see at processing. To produce high-quality beef, these are the most important factors:
Breed
Red and Black Angus are respected worldwide for their natural ability to marble. While other breeds store fat on the outside, Angus cattle develop it within the muscle, creating a fine, even pattern that gives beef its flavor, tenderness, and juiciness. This is why we choose them, and it’s the genetic base for every grade.
Feed and Finishing
Diet decides how much of that genetic potential an animal reaches. Our All Natural cattle are finished on farm-grown grain and forage, a controlled diet that gives us consistent marbling and keeps that range at Premium to Platinum. Our Grass-Fed cattle graze on pasture from start to finish, resulting in leaner meat with less intramuscular fat. The flavor is cleaner and more mineral, which is why Grass-Fed beef usually falls in the Regal to Premium range.
Animal Welfare
Stress before processing can affect meat quality, which is why bright red meat color is an important grading factor. Poor handling shows in the final product. We manage our animals with care at every stage, helping our beef consistently meet the quality standards for all three grades.
All Natural and Grass-Fed: What to Expect
All Natural: Premium to Platinum
All beef in our All Natural range is graded Premium to Platinum. These are our grain-finished Red and Black Angus cattle, raised on pasture and finished on a diet of farm-grown grain and forage. The controlled finishing period produces consistent marbling and fat coverage, so the quality range is tighter and sits higher.
Grass-Fed: Regal to Premium
Grass-fed beef is inherently more variable. Cattle raised entirely on pasture naturally develop less intramuscular fat than grain-finished animals. The flavour reflects it: leaner, more mineral, with a distinct character many people actively seek out. Marbling levels are lower and less predictable, so our grass-fed beef ranges from Regal to Premium depending on the animal, the season, and the pasture.
That range is something we’re upfront about. Grass-feeding produces a leaner, more variable product with a different nutritional profile (higher omega-3s, more CLA) and a grade range that honestly reflects that. If you want to know where a specific cut lands before you order, just ask.
Buying with Confidence
Labels are meant to help you understand what you’re buying.
At Beverly Creek, you can ask us about the breed, diet, feeding program, processing, and category of any beef you order. We’re happy to explain how each cut was chosen and how it might fit into your cooking. Our All Natural and Grass-Fed programs each offer a unique eating experience. The Platinum, Premium, and Regal categories help us explain those differences clearly.
To us, farm-direct buying means knowing where your food comes from, how the animals were raised, and who stands behind the product.
If you have questions about a certain cut or want to know more about how we raise and finish our beef, just ask. You can also check out our farm shop and order for next-business-day pickup in Millgrove.