Price, Convenience Drive Meat-Shopping Habits

Portion Size Gains Importance for Meat

ORLANDO, Fla. — Whether they are empty nesters, single parents, couples without children or young people just getting started on their own, one- and two-person households now account for 60% of all U.S. households, Sherry Frey, vice president of account services for Nielsen Perishables Group, said during her “Decision Tree: Understanding Consumer Choices” presentation here last week at the 2012 Annual Meat Conference, a joint production of the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute.

Many meat departments still need to adjust to this new reality by offering more portion sizes that respond to the needs of these smaller households.

Consumer packaged goods companies have responded by creating smaller package sizes tailored to smaller households, but “we don’t have those products in the [meat] case right now. That’s something they would go to the service counter for,” Frey said.

These thoughts were echoed in a later presentation by Trevor Amen, manager of channel marketing for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Research indicates that shoppers in smaller households are often willing to pay a higher price per pound for smaller, lean premium cuts, such as those designed by NCBA’s Beef Alternative Merchandising program.