What's New in Review
New meat products have made their way onto store shelves and restaurant menus in recent months. Meat Marketing & Technology, with the aid of Marketing Intelligence Service of Naples, N.Y., reviews what's new in the market.
-- Dave's Gourmet Foods Inc., Alexandria, Va., introduces its Top Round Beef Jerky in two flavors, the hot "Insanity Sauce" and the "Greatest Grilling Sauce." Both are hickory smoked.
-- Jimmy Dean Foods, Cordova, Tenn., offers its Jimmy Dean Mexican Recipes Pork Taco Filling and Italian Recipes Italian Sausage. The frozen meats are packaged in chubs and are billed as "a perfectly seasoned alternative to ground meat."
The Mexican variety makes 12 tacos and the Italian variety can be used as a pizza topping. Support ads include coupons for 35 cents and 55 cents.
-- Maple Leaf Farms, Milford, Ind., introduces Shopsy's Cajun and Italian Style Roast Beef. The Cajun variety is covered with pepper flakes and red pepper. The Italian style contains garlic and Italian herbs and is covered with whole anise seeds and herbs. The products are packaged in plastic wrap and tagged "less than 7 percent fat."
-- Original Australian Barbecue Food Co., Pleasanton, Calif., offers its 8-ounce, 1-pound and 2-pound packages of Original, Hot & Spicy, and Smoky Pork varieties of Real Australian Barbecue Sausage, as well as Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs and Aussie Breakfast Links.
The hot-and-spicy sausage is naturally smoked and uses a blend of chillies and spices. The smoky pork sausage is double-smoked and lean, the company claims.
-- Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J., has added its family-size Garfield Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce to its line of Franco-American canned pasta meals.
The cans retail for $1.09 and $1.79. Full-page ads with 30-cent coupons and mail-in certificates are used for promotion.
-- Blue Ribbon Meats, Caledonia, Minn., has launched a line of Belgian Blue Beef products, which are naturally lean and higher in protein, the company claims. The product line includes Belgian Blue Burgers, Belgian Blue Grilled Steaks and Belgian Blue Crock Pot Roast.
-- Carver's Classic Meat Products, Paxton, Ill., introduces a line of Dinky Links Sausage Snacks in a new "Big Size" with "Big Taste." The 1-ounce, 12-inch long snack comes in original, hot, summer sausage and chili stick varieties. Each is made with pork, salt, spices encapsulated citric acid and granulated garlic.
Through a licensing agreement with Hanna-Barbera, Carver's offers The Flintstone Snack Sausage. It is sold in .5-ounce film packaging that features a picture of cartoon character Fred Flintstone.
-- Cody's Choice, Englewood, Calif., offers its Choice Meat Snacks in new varieties, including Southwestern Green Chile Beef Strips, Barbecue Flavor Turkey Strips and Teriyaki Flavor Turkey Strips.
The hickory-smoked snacks are 96 percent fat-free and contain no MSG, the company claims. They are packaged in 1.3-ounce plastic bags and designed for rack display.
-- Hi Country-Hickory Kist Snack Foods, Lincoln, Mont., has added the Flavor Trail Super Slab Meat Snack to its line. Displayed on store shelves in 30-count jars, the vacuum-packed meat sticks come in original, and hot 'n' spicy varieties. They carry a suggested retail price of 59 cents when sold single.
-- Knauss Snack Food Co., Timonium, Md., offers its Hannah's Wild Fire Hot Sausage and 5 Alarm Red Hot Sausage. The Wild Fire variety is shaped like a hot dog, and is sold in 1.7-ounce plastic wrappers that retail for 79 cents. The 5 Alarm variety is sold in 8-ounce plastic wrappers, and retail price is two for $1.
The company also offers its Bull's Choice Beef & Cheese snack pack. A 14-ounce package contains one stick of beef and one stick of cheese. Retail price is two for $1.
-- Oberto Sausage Co., Kent, Wash., introduces Jawdust Shredded Beef Jerky, marketed under the Oh Boy! Oberto name. Jawdust is presented in a plastic canister, resembling a container of chewing tobacco.
-- Old Settlers, Covina, Calif., offers its Old Settlers Beef Jerky in Super Hot, Hot, Teriyaki, Sweet N' Spicy and Real Western varieties. A natural smoke flavor is added, the company claims.
-- Hygrade Food Products, Detroit, has added Beef Classic to its Ball Park Brand Hot Dogs. It is "made with only pure, top quality cuts of meat seasoned just right," claims the company. It is promoted with 35-cent coupons.
If your company has launched a new meat product, please mail or fax a news release to Larry Aylward, Meat Marketing & Technology, The Arcade, 401 Euclid Ave., Suite 461, Cleveland, Ohio 44114, phone 216/579-0814 or fax 216/579-0911.