Retailers Have Discovered the Key to Moving Case-Ready Meat: Sell It as a Sales-Enhancer-Not a Labor Saver
by Larry Aylward, managing editor
Once upon a time, two consumers were scrutinizing case-ready beef at their neighborhood supermarket. The product was priced the same as retail cuts...splendid!...But it looked different.
The two consumers asked the meatcutter about the beef's unique, purplish color. But the meatcutter was of no help.
Instead of telling the consumers the purplish color indicated the product's longer shelf life, the meatcutter directed the consumers to an adjacent meat case where they could find the "more attractive" retail-cut product.
"This is what you really want," the meatcutter told the consumers with a grin as wide as a T-bone steak.
The consumers, thinking they had received the tip of the day, obliged the meatcutter and loaded their cart with retail-cut meat.
This is no fairy tale. In fact, the scene probably has taken place many times at supermarkets across the country. Some meatcutters helped undermine the case-ready meat concept. Excel Corp. introduced case-ready beef in 1986, but pulled it off the market in 1991. One reason: meatcutters turned foilers.
Case-ready meat had arrived with a full tank of gas. It was supposed to help retailers improve sales and reduce out-of-stocks in the self-service meat case. It had a longer shelf life and tamper-proof packaging.
But to some-especially retail meatcutters-case-ready meat was regarded as a hostile foe. They believed the arrival of case-ready meat would land them in the unemployment line.
"The meatcutters were scared of losing their jobs," says George Baker, director of meat operations for Minneapolis-based Nash Finch Co. "[The concept of case-ready meat] was not going to fly because the meatcutters were not [supporting] it."
When Baker began designing the blueprint for Nash Finch's case-ready meats program at one of the chain's outlets in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he knew he had to convince the store's meatcutters that the concept would not lead to their demise. Nash Finch plans to have the program in place this month. "They are all a little nervous," Baker says of the meatcutters.
But Baker told the meatcutters they have nothing to fear. They and others at Nash Finch have prepared for the case-ready concept for four years, Baker claims. They have been taught how to properly service consumers regarding questions about case-ready meat. "The meatcutters will be doing a different function," Baker says.
It goes without saying that meat packers and processors should not promote case-ready meat as a labor saver. If they do, red flags will be whipping in the wind at retail.
John Gunn, meat and seafood merchandising manager for Kroger Co.'s Atlanta division, admits case-ready beef did not initially sell partly because of its purplish color. But Gunn says the product wasn't promoted well by Kroger meatcutters. "They didn't have the greatest motive in the world to sell it," Gunn adds.
Jim Charles meat director for the Pittsburgh division of Supervalu supermarkets, points out that a case-ready meat program will never succeed if it is sold as a labor saver.
"That would be beating the wrong drum," he says. "The program has to be sold as a sales increase tool to capture some of the lost sales from out-of-stocks. Then [the program] gets a foothold and goes from there."
A model program?
Baker is setting the table for Nash Finch's rollout of its case-ready meats program-supplied by Excel-at an EconoFoods store in Cedar Rapids. Baker is preparing the table in an orderly and tidy fashion, as if he is serving a candlelight dinner to a king and queen.
Other retailers have courted similar strategies. Some have failed, but Baker believes proper and careful strategy is the key to success.
The Cedar Rapids EconoFoods is a super center that occupies 103,000 square feet, including a 36-foot service meat case and a 72-foot multi-deck, self-service case.
The case-ready meat selection will be stationed in an isolated area away from the retail product, according to Baker. However, prices will be parallel to retail products.
The concept will receive heavy in-store promotion, cooked product will be offered as samples, and literature detailing case-ready meat will be handed out to consumers. Knowledgeable individuals will be on hand to answer consumers' questions.
"We will talk about issues of meat color and packaging," Baker says.
The trial must answer two questions for Nash Finch, he adds. "Will the consumer accept it? And what will it cost us?"
Are consumers ready?
Consumers are eager for alternative meat products, Supervalu's Charles insists. "We're not dealing with the same type of consumer that we were 20 years ago," he adds.
The proof is in Supervalu's meat case. The chain has had success for the past three years selling 40 case-ready Dubuque Foods' pork items at stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.
In the late 1980s, the high price of case-ready was cited as a reason for its failure. Today, Supervalu is selling its case-ready pork at the same price as retail product.
"That was a given when we went into it," Charles adds.
Minneapolis-based Fairway Foods, a wholesaler that also operates nearly 30 corporate stores, began selling case-ready pork from Hormel Foods Corp. and Dubuque Foods about nine months ago in about 25 outlets. What kind of feedback is Fairway Foods receiving from consumers?
"They're buying it," says John Story, Fairway's senior director of meat and deli. "That's the feedback we're looking for."
Consumers don't care where meat is cut and packaged, Story insists. "Consumers want to know: Is product fresh, does it taste good, is it reliable, and does it represent value?" Story says.
Case-ready pork has a distinct advantage over beef because color is not an issue. Kroger has successfully sold the uniform-looking, case-ready pork for nearly five years through its Atlanta division outlets, Gunn claims.
"Stores receive product by truck within 10 hours so it's not being held for any long length of time," Gunn says. "And it looks better than what we cut."
The buddy factor
Usually regarded as adversaries, retailers and packer/processors realize that successful business is mostly the result of working together. And old thinking must change.
"One of the big issues is that [packers and processors] have to realize they are no longer just [packers and processors]," Story points out. "They are retail suppliers, and they need to learn something about the retail end of the business when it comes to producing, cutting, packaging, labeling, boxing and handling product."
Fairway Foods representatives sat down with Hormel representatives to discuss the nuances of case-ready pork.
"It was certainly Hormel's desire to learn more about [the process]," Story says. [Hormel] was willing to spend some money to [do it right]. [Hormel representatives] weren't afraid to sit down and talk to us about it."
There was a lot to talk about, such as packaging and specifications of cuts.
Nash Finch developed a task force to study the economics and demographics of case-ready meat. The task force included a member of Excel's case-ready meat division.
Supervalu called the shots when putting together its case-ready pork program with Dubuque Foods, according to Charles. "We put everything together-the pricing formulas, the cutting patterns."
A dying profession?
Union regulations prohibit the sale of case-ready product in some areas of the United States, as part of contractual agreements with meatcutters. But retailers aren't flinching because they know the barrier can be broken easily.
"That's just language in the contract," Gunn notes. "It's all negotiable."
Greg Denier, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents about 5,000 U.S. meatcutters, says that the union is not totally against case-ready meat. However, he says that case-ready meat will limit consumers from receiving preferential treatment at the meat counter. Denier also claims that some meatcutters develop rashes from handling case-ready meat packages. But he couldn't cite any cases to support the claim.
However, many retailers, such as Nash Finch, want to retrain meat cutters to aptly fit in and play an important role in case-ready meat programs. In essence, they will become meat marketers.
Kroger's Gunn admits that some consumers still desire retail pork products at stores in the chain's Atlanta division where case-ready pork is prevalent. "We still cut some pork chops," Gunn adds.
The case-ready concept may never impact some areas of the Unites States. "I can take you to areas where they are still cutting, traying and packaging chicken," Story adds.
However, meatcutters are declining in number in large retail areas. It may be a dying profession, suppliers agree-another reason for the inevitability of case-ready meat. "[Meatcutting] is an art that's not being cultivated," Gunn says.
Story claims miscuts of retail meat can be found in any retail store, no matter how efficient the operation's standards. He attributes this to poor training, which can be blamed on the lack of money being pumped into the profession.
Case-ready meat's presence will become more apparent with the demise of the meatcutting profession. And if retailers price case-ready meat equivalent to retail-cut meat-which some are already doing-its presence will become even more familiar to consumers.
Another key to the concept's success is food safety, Story says. If a packer or processor can invent a cost-efficient package that is safer, it's another point to promote to consumers. But the concept can't be pushed too hard, Story says. And a time can't be pinpointed when case-ready meat will dominate the retail meat case throughout he country.
Once again, case-ready meat is parked out front, ready to roll with a full tank of gas. The drive could take some time, but it could be a pleasant ride.
"Such things have to move in a certain progression," Story adds. "But at this point, we're getting a little more sophisticated, particularly at the retail level."