Fizzling to Sizzling
By Larry Aylward, Managing Editor
The supermarket meat case is packed with low-fat meats, but somebody is bringing home the bacon.
In 1994, estimated retail and foodservice sales of bacon totaled $2.2 billion, a 6 percent increase from 1993 sales, according to "Packaged Facts." The increase in 1994 bacon sales followed three years of decline.
Chicago-based Information Resources says that bacon sales dipped slightly (3.3 percent) in supermarket sales tallied between November 1994 and November 1995. However, the category pushed $1.3 billion in 1995 sales compared with $1.1 billion in 1993.
Bacon's image was hammered in the mid-1980s; it was labeled as being high in fat, sodium and cholesterol. Nitrite in the product downgraded the tasty meat's reputation in some consumers' minds.
Times have changed, however. Many new bacon products are lower in fat, sodium and cholesterol. Nitrite usage in cured meat products is justified by industry organizations, such as AMI, which says nitrite contributes to the safety of the product by preventing growth of clostridium botulinum and preventing spoilage.
"Bacon is becoming popular again," says Dennis Shea, product manager for Cudahy, Wis.-based Patrick Cudahy Inc. "Time heals wounds."
Bill Curtis, meat department manager of a Bloomington, Ill.-based Cub Foods, says bacon sales have been steady. "My bacon sales have picked up the last six months," Curtis adds. "We promote it a lot. We always have bacon on sale." Fast-food operators are promoting bacon as an ingredient, as well. Burgers, roast beef sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, tacos and pizza are receiving flavor boosts from pre-cooked bacon.
"Wendy's International and McDonald's Corp. drove the market crazy last year with bacon sales," says Bob Burkhart, national sales manager for Massillon, Ohio-based Freshmark Inc.'s Sugardale line.
Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell recently introduced a bacon product line-Bacon Cheeseburger Burrito, BLT Soft Taco, Ultimate Bacon Pizza, Chicken Club Burrito-on the heels of its low-fat Border Lights line, which reportedly has flattened in sales. Burkhart says Taco Bell has increased sales 4 percent to 6 percent since the bacon line was instituted.
The foodservice arena may be a harbinger for pre-cooked bacon at the supermarket level. Fast-food operators utilize it for its obvious advantage.
"They don't have to deal with the labor," Burkhart says. "When you take the labor out [of preparing] any product, [operators] will look at you differently."
But will consumers look at processors in a different light regarding pre-cooked bacon at the supermarket level? "It's going to take a lot of marketing, promotion and sampling," Curtis says.
Price point is the crucial element that may decide the fate of pre-cooked bacon at supermarkets. Pre-cooked bacon is not a Johnny-come-lately product to supermarkets; it just hasn't been completely befriended.
"It's going to take a good marketing approach in order to explain the attributes to consumers so they can make a price-value choice," notes Bruce Ginn, chief economist for Madison, Wis.-based Oscar Mayer Food Corp.
The attributes are simple: Consumers don't have to put up with bacon frying and grease flying. But consumers may perceive the product as over-priced.
"Pre-cooked bacon is coming to the retail level, but it's slow," Burkhart says. "The question is: How do you sell 4 ounces of bacon, even though you are going to get as much as a pound of bacon for the same price?
"People won't pay $2 for 4 ounces of bacon."
This is where promotion and education begins. Consumers must be sold on the theory that 1 pound of raw bacon cooks into 4 ounces.
And they won't have to put up with spattering hot grease and messy dishes. Burkhart is high on pre-cooked bacon, but he admits it's a tough sell to supermarkets.
"It's going to take a lot of dollars and a lot of time," he adds.
Tom Bush, president of Madison, Wis.-based SHK Foods, is investing dollars and time into pre-cooked bacon. Bush is distributing Ready Crisp Fully Cooked Bacon Slices nationwide. He is realistic about his intentions.
"It's a niche product. It's not a huge-number-of-packages kind of business," Bush says. "But it moves just fast enough so we stay on the store shelves."
To combat the issue of product weight surrounding raw and cooked bacon, Bush says SHK Foods emphasizes there are 20 slices in a package. "There's a reason to be in this market," he says. "We are looking forward to growing this line."
Of course, the bacon business may be at the mercy of the pork belly market. In 1995, pork belly prices dotted the board, Burkhart says.
"Prices were so volatile that no one could get a handle on them," he adds.
Oscar Mayer's Ginn guarantees that pork belly prices won't even out anytime soon. "We think prices will be a little more expensive," he says.
In its crystal ball, "Packaged Facts" predicts bacon sales to soar to $2.5 billion by 1999, an increase of nearly 12 percent over 1994 sales.
"When you sit down to a plate of bacon and eggs, you just can't eat one piece of bacon; you have to have two or three," Shea of Patrick Cudahy's says. "I see the business growing and continuing to grow."