DOROTHY LANE FORESEES SALES GAINS FOR PRIZE HAMS

ROSEANNE HARPER

DAYTON, Ohio -- Dorothy Lane Market, a two-unit upscale retailer here, expects a 10% leap in ham sales, after its branded product took top honors in a local taste test.

The branded product, called Heavenly Ham, was picked as best from a field of eight hams from local retail outlets, three of them supermarkets. The taste test was conducted by a local newspaper, using a judging panel that included a chef, a food consultant and the newspaper's food editors.

The panel also evaluated hams from Meijer and Kroger, in addition to Dorothy Lane. A ham sold by Boston Market was in the judging as well. All of the others were from freestanding retail stores.

A span of five points separated Dorothy Lane's Heavenly Ham from the runner-up, Honeybaked Ham, which was purchased from a Honeybaked Ham franchised unit here.

"It's great to be number one. We're already moving more hams since the article was in the paper, after Thanksgiving, and I expect that we'll have sales at least 10% over last year for the whole holiday period," said Jack Gridley, meat and seafood manager at Dorothy Lane's Centerville store.

A franchisee of the Heavenly Ham Co. for 10 years, Dorothy Lane Market merchandises the whole, spiral-sliced hams in its meat department. They're displayed in a two-door, 4-foot-wide case behind the service meat counter, Gridley said.

"We're very service oriented. We keep a minimum of them prepacked," Gridley said. He explained that while the hams are sourced already spiral-sliced, they are glazed in-store.

For the taste test, the products were rated on a 10-point scale for several characteristics such as taste, appearance and texture. The points for each were then totaled.

The Heavenly Ham received 47 points; Honeybaked Ham got 43 points; and a ham from Kroger, which is produced by HMI, a small company in Cincinnati, came in third with 41 points.

By comparison, Boston Market's boneless ham received 26 points, and Meijer's honey glazed ham received 23 points.

Boston Market's ham, at $5.69 a pound, carried the highest retail price. All the others, which were spiral-sliced, bone-in hams, ranged in retail from $2.99 to $4.99.

"The panelists' verdict was: You get what you pay for, most of the time," said food editor Ann Heller at the Dayton Daily News.

The Heavenly Ham was $4.79; the Honeybaked, $4.99; HMI from Kroger, $3.99. The others, except for Boston Market's, ranged from $2.99 to $3.18.

The Heavenly Ham, from Dorothy Lane, was rated particularly high for its looks and was singled out for its color and lean trim, Heller said. The ham also won praise for having a smoky flavor throughout.

Boston Market's ham was described as "rubbery, tough or chewy," by panelists. The Meijer brand was particularly criticized as "spongy" and "salty."

This was the first year the Dayton Daily News evaluated hams.

"We thought it would be a good product to taste test because they're so popular during the holidays. Spiral hams have become a staple on buffet tables around here during this season," said Heller. She said she'll probably assemble a panel to evaluate turkeys next year.

"Maybe we'll compare fresh, frozen and precooked turkeys," she said.