KC CUTS

ROBERT VOSBURGH

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This old cattle-driver's town is the place to come to if you want to see how important meat and poultry still are to consumers. Stores in and around the greater Kansas City area have proudly maintained the region's reputation for fine meats, which has spanned generations. Local retailers don't disappoint, filling extensive service and self-service cases with a variety of beef, poultry and pork. And while seafood is also featured, customers here decidedly favor land-based proteins.

Without exception, the meat departments in each of the four stores visited by SN during the recent Meat Marketing Conference here were a centerpiece and a destination for primal and value-added products. Huge slabs of ribs shared space with London broils the size of serving platters; kabobs in chicken and beef jostled for attention with butterfly marinated pork loin; and almost every retailer has a proprietary name for select products, each proudly featured as a hallmark of quality.

Large, almost roomy, prep areas -- a growing rarity in other parts of the country -- continue to be a fixture here. Saws, wide cutting tables and white-smocked associates are a common sight behind the service counters during regular operating hours. Visits to individual stores reflect Kansas City retailers' attitudes that responsive, quality service departments and all-encompassing self-service venues are musts in this meat-lovers town.

Hy-Vee Belton, Mo.

Featuring the West Des Moines, Iowa-based chain's new 21st-century prototype design, this 65,000-square-foot Hy-Vee opened in mid-1999, and includes 68 feet of full-service meats and seafood fronting an open prep area. The cases highlight two store-branded lines. Blue Ribbon, the "Exclusively Yours" line, includes beef and pork products and is more moderately priced, while the Amana Beef line is the corn-fed premium beef signature, according to department manager Jim Dunn.

The Blue Ribbon choices included bottom round roasts and steaks, boneless tip steaks, boneless arm roasts, and a selection of 25-ounce "Big T-Bone" steaks, at $11 each. In the case, they were stacked four deep, making an impressive fresh statement.

A 10-foot section of the service lineup was reserved for the Amana line. Shoppers could choose among bacon-wrapped, 5-ounce London broils; boneless, 8-ounce Kansas City strip steaks; and other cuts. These items are exclusive to the chain, sourced from a supplier in Amana, Iowa, according to an associate behind the counter.

Specialty, value-added items also receive special attention at Hy-Vee. Oven/grill-ready Cowboy (or Cowgirl) Chicken Grillers came in eight varieties, and were on special during SN's visit, at two 10-ounce portions for $6. Each is stuffed and wrapped in bacon. Wild rice- or apple raisin-stuffed chops, using Hormel's Always Tender pork, were also part of the mix, at two 8-ounce portions for $5. This store reserved some room for entree-related items as well, such as stuffed onion, crab-stuffed mushrooms and pre-made Italian meatballs. An adjacent 4 feet of the case were devoted to twice-baked potatoes. On this day, there were five varieties, priced at three for $5. The mushrooms and meatballs were each $3.99 a pound.

A total of four skewered vegetable-and-meat kabobs were also offered in the service case, as well as nine varieties of marinated items, including boneless chicken breasts and butterfly boneless pork loin. Some 4 feet of breaded filets included 6-ounce portions of pork loin, chicken breast and chicken-fried steak; adjacent to that, a 2-foot section featured the same cuts stuffed, and included chicken in Cordon Bleu and Kiev styles.

Fresh sausages and bratwurst were highlighted in 4 feet of service space, and the variety included Italian sausage, jalapeno, beer, plain and Cajun-spice brats, all on special for $1.99 a pound. Loose-ground product ranged from beef, in 85%, 90% and 93% lean form, to ground turkey and turkey breast. Many of these items were also available in the self-service case.

Self-service is also impressive at this Hy-Vee, and the 44 linear feet of six-deck cases are jammed with beef, Hormel case-ready pork, fresh meals and poultry products. Select shrink-wrapped platters were a pleasant surprise: seven bacon-wrapped turkey tenderloins for $10.50; and nearly a dozen boneless, marinated chicken breasts for $11, were among the choices. From the service case, the chain's "Meals in Minutes" logo was also found in the self-service lineup, in the guise of vacuum-tumbled meats like mesquite onion steaks.

Hen House Market Overland Park, Kan.

This 62,000-square-foot market-style store, in an affluent neighborhood in Kansas City, Kan., is one of 15 units currently in the Hen House chain, a division of Balls Food Stores there. Under the management of Paul Hackler, this store's 60 feet of service meat is backed up by a full-view, 1,400-square-foot prep area. The upscale format's Butcher Block department features poultry on ice and certified Hereford beef cuts, as well as signature store-branded items.

A rarity among retailers, the nearly 20 feet of iced birds is a highlight here. Whole chickens and turkeys hedge every option in between, including split broilers, wings, drums and thighs, skin-on or skinless breasts and skin-on quarters. Each is clearly marked fresh or previously frozen. This is followed by Hen House's exclusively sourced Nature's Premium all-natural beef line. A small brochure on the top of the case notes that the cattle are free-range and corn-fed at Rainbow Organic Farms, a member of the All Natural Beef Producers Cooperative. Kansas City strip steaks, top sirloins, London broils, brisket flats and ground chuck were available the day of SN's visit, merchandised in their own 4-foot set, under case strips reading "Local Family Farm Raised Beef -- USDA Inspected." Per-pound prices varied from $5.99 for the sirloin to $9.99 for the strip steaks.

Like a growing number of retailers who've been trying to find the balance between customer needs and full-blown meals-solutions offerings, Hen House has developed a signature series of ready-to-cook entrees and merchandises them out of the meat case. Here, 12 feet of Center of the Plate entrees include herb-spiced baby back rib sections; vegetable-seasoned stuffed pork chops for $3.29 a pound; boneless chicken breasts in marinades like light herb, teriyaki Thai and onion glaze ($4.49 to $4.99 a pound); 8-ounce ready-to grill kabobs and Chicken Wranglers, similar to the Chicken Grillers found in Hy-Vee. The section also held twice-baked potatoes and cubed beef for stew.

The retailer's premium-beef line, certified Hereford beef, occupied 12 feet of linear space, and was heralded with a prominent case strip across the front: "Taste the Tenderness," it read in part. Here, an extensive collection of well-marbled product was an eye-catcher: boneless rump roasts were $2.99 a pound; London broil was $3.79 a pound; and T-bones were stacked, ready to go, for $8.79 per pound.

A 4-foot section reserved for ground product included 93% lean beef, turkey breast and sirloin. It was followed by 8 feet of fresh pork products, branded under the label of Milan, Mo.-based Premium Standard Farms. Center-cut chops, tenderloin and country-style rib sections were part of the case mix, with per-pound prices for these items ranging from $3.29 to $4.99.

In self-service, a pair of 30-foot coffin cases included national- and store-brand items, including bacon, ham and whole turkeys, smoked in the chain's own central smokehouse. Among the value-added choices were chicken strips, cooked spare ribs and stir-fry protein kits.

Price Chopper Independence, Mo.

This price-impact format, owned by McKeever Enterprises, is one of five in the independent chain. Self-service meats take up more room in this 92,000-square-foot store, but the service department presents high-volume, preferred items in an effective case scheme. Sharing the space with service seafood, the meat section features chicken on ice -- whole fryers and split, boneless, skinless breasts. In a departure from other stores visited by SN, Price Chopper's meat case included six bowls of various salads, including a seafood mix. There was also Cajun crab dip, at $4.99 a pound, and store-made crab and shrimp dip, for the same price.

A Price Chopper signature, Grillers -- the same boneless, skinless chicken breast item found in competing retailers -- are also topped with bacon here, but merchandised with catchier names. There's the McKeever's Griller, stuffed with ingredients including Monterey jack cheese and onions, according to Kevin Craigg, department manager. There's also the Hawaiian, and another with hot peppers. All were offered at two for $5. Unlike other retailers, Price Chopper makes its own chicken Kiev entrees, which were merchandised next to chicken fried steak, breaded breasts and breaded pork loin.

A selection of ready-to-cook beef burgers looked appetizing, all rim-spiced for $2.99 a pound. The choices this day included four-pepper, onion and herb, and vegetable medley. These were sold next to 12 trays of fresh-ground products that encompassed chorizo sausage mix, hot Italian sausage mix, and pork, sirloin, chuck and turkey breast. Both sausage mixes sold for $2.99 a pound.

The showpiece of the service department here, spread out over 6 feet of case, is the chain's certified Angus beef program. Top sirloins, at $8.99 a pound, and T-bones and Kansas City strip steaks, both $11.99 a pound, received star treatment with distinctive signage and informational brochures on the top of the case. Individual black platters held one or two cuts apiece, marked with the distinctive certified Angus program logo. Off to one side, there were four pork options, including butterfly boneless and center-cut loins.

A door to the windowed prep/cutting room separates the service area from the self-service multideck cases. From a number of colorful ceiling danglers, Price Chopper reminds shoppers of its 200% Satisfaction Guarantee, offering them a full refund and replacement product throughout the department. Other signage touts the chain's KC Pride Beef products, some of which are "Ground Fresh Several Times Daily." Still another sign notes the operator's policy of trimming cuts at the one-eighth mark "for value." Customers are also told about the "Midwestern Grain-Fed Beef" in the department.

Using clear signage above the self-service area to direct shoppers, the beef section includes store-made value-added products like stuffed peppers and steak for soup.

Sun Fresh Kansas City, Mo.

This brand-new, 52,000-square-foot store resides in the New Mark neighborhood, just north of downtown Kansas City. It is the first Sun Fresh format owned by Raytown, Mo.-based John's Apple Market, which operates this store and two under the Apple Market banner as an independent member of Associated Wholesale Grocers in Kansas City.

The meat department here stresses variety and selection, mostly under the self-service umbrella. The 28 feet of service items include 12 feet of seafood as well. The rest of the case space is divided evenly between red meat and chicken on ice, noted Dennis Becker, department manager for the new store.

Red-meat selections ranged from 96% lean ground beef for $2.89 a pound to USDA Choice porterhouse steaks, for $7.19 a pound. Two trays of chicken or beef kabobs joined Chicken "Grillers" in a nod to ready-to-cook entrees. Pork tenderloin and racks of baby back ribs signalled the retailer's preparedness for the upcoming barbecue season. There was a higher volume of family packs in the Sun Fresh store than in competitors' units, as well as value-added selections like individual meat loaves in their own cooking tin, topped with green pepper slices, for $1.99 each. Here, the stuffed-pork and chicken products were also found. Nearby, customers could choose stir-fry packs. One interesting find here was a platter of nine ready-to-cook, bacon-wrapped beef butter steaks, for $11.38.