Targeting Deli/Prepared Meats
New diary will illuminate the supermarket's 'black hole'
Another American meat industry mystery may unravel thanks to an effort between an industry committee and four meat processors.
"[Market information] on the [supermarket] deli has been described by one corporate market researcher as the 'black hole,' says Bill Kuecker, director of deli/prepared meats and scientific affairs for National Live Stock & Meat Board. "We're going to get information on deli/prepared meats [such as cold cuts and sausage] that previously has not existed."
What Kuecker is referring to is an ongoing project dubbed the Deli/Prepared Meats Purchase Diary. It is being conducted by the Meat Board Deli/Prepared Meats Committee, in cooperation with four major prepared meat processors (who prefer to remain anonymous). Sheila Courington, Meat Board director of market research, will direct the project.
Each processor is donating $20,000 toward the project, in addition to the $150,000 budgeted by the Meat Board. Three-thousand questionnaire forms were mailed to consumers to ensure that 1,000 are properly filled out and returned. The returned forms will reflect national data trends on deli meats.
Participants are being asked to keep a monthly record of all meat purchases made at the supermarket deli.
"As they unload their grocery sacks from the store, they will fill out the information," Kuecker points out.
He adds there is currently very little information on what types of prepared meats people are purchasing at the supermarket deli and what the true interaction is between the self-service meat case and the full-service deli.
The project also hopes to find out if there are cross-marketing strategies that can be used by both the meat case and deli-and if there are substitute or complimentary purchases that happen between both cases.
"Another aspect we will have is an opinion and attitude survey overlaying the behavior data," Kuecker notes.
"So, not only will we be able to tell what 'X' amount of a product is sold, we will be able to tell who buys it, what their opinions were when they bought it, what price they paid, what time of the week they shopped, whether they bought other items with it or if it was a stand-alone purchase, and how many pounds of this deli meat they purchased," he adds. "These are all pieces of information that are currently unknown."
Benefit to processors
The diary will benefit meat processors in two ways.
"One way is it will help them to develop strategic directions," Kuecker adds. "It will give processors a [better] understanding of what the deli is and how it interacts with other parts of the store. Second, the diary will be the most complete data source [on deli meat purchases] that is non-proprietary."
Several tiers of information will be provided by the research. The four contributing processors will each receive a comprehensive report containing an increased level of information. An annual business report of the study will also be available for purchase, and should be available in late 1995.
The cost is unknown, but Kuecker says it should be comparable to other strategic reports.
There will also be public sector information reports that will be distributed free-of-charge to processors and the media on an on-going basis. These reports are expected to be particularly helpful to smaller, regional meat processors.
"We plan for this project to consist of ongoing research," Kuecker says. "This research will allow us to track performance of some areas that are currently beyond our scope, such as certain flavors and certain health claims being made.
"However, this will be determined on a year-by-year basis," he adds. "We won't continue the project if it is determined down the road that it is no longer needed."
Source: Patrick Luby, MIC and NLS&MB
Source: National Live Stock & Meat Board