READY FOR CASE-READY?

WENDY JOY

There are myriad issues surrounding the concept of case-ready beef. Food safety, labor shortages, quality, product consistency and consumer acceptance are only a few of the boundaries that have framed the debate thus far.

But make no mistake -- the discussion of case-ready product has grown to the point of critical mass, and the talk is becoming reality as some of the nation's largest retailers help to set the pace.

"Case-ready has lived up to expectations and it is the way the industry is going, that's clear," said Jessica Moser, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., which has converted approximately 250 of nearly 800 Wal-Mart Supercenters to a case-ready beef program.

"Case-ready is going well and we're continuing to listen to customers' feedback," she continued. "The No. 1 comment is how clean the product is, that there are no juices and the package does not leak."

Right now, Wal-Mart's program represents a simplified version of case-ready's full potential: packs are not yet preweighed and prepriced, but eventually they will be, she added.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. has been selling case-ready beef, as well as pork, in more than 150 stores that make up the chain's Atlanta division. The retailer's partner in the program, Excel Corp., a subsidiary of Cargill, Minneapolis, operates a central facility in the Atlanta market dedicated to supplying Kroger's stores.

This movement by two of the nation's largest retailers isn't lost on industry observers, but there's always another side to the discussion. There are those who believe customers want red meat packaged fresh. Ray Benezia, meat director of New York-based Fairway Market, said his independent operation has no intention of adopting any sort of case-ready program.

"Meat is highly perishable and customers are leery about it. I want to be able to stand behind every piece of meat I sell," he said. "We make chopped meat from fresh meat on the premises. In a day where people want more organic produce, you have to guarantee that meat is absolutely fresh."

Benezia acknowledged that, while case-ready can extend shelf-life, "something's being done to it" that removes the perception of freshness.

As the category approaches a critical phase in its evolution from boxed beef, case-ready offers a variety of possible combinations, industry representatives tell SN. Some is sold under a brand, while most remains commodity; there are packaging options -- including the use of modified atmosphere interiors (and within that, decisions regarding oxygen content); most processors can offer standardized weights and prepricing; and in the store, retailers can implement full- or partial-case replacement.

Estimates of just how much case-ready beef is in the system vary. Jack Dunn, president of the consumer foods group at Iowa Beef Producers, Dakota Dunes, S.D., puts the figure at "not even 5% at this point." This differs from more optimistic figures released by Cryovac, provider of case-ready technology, which estimates the percentage of beef currently in retail stores at 7% to 10%.

Looking ahead, Cryovac's study projects rapid growth. By 2005, case-ready beef will comprise 40% to 50% of the case, with the emphasis falling on ground beef (50%), followed by steaks and roasts (30%), and all other cuts (40%).

Although it's very early in the game, and only a small percentage of beef is currently case-ready, it "is an up-and-coming feature and it's growing rapidly," according to Jeremy Russell, communications manager of the National Meat Association, Washington.

"More and more supermarkets are demanding case-ready beef because of several benefits: shortage of meatcutters, advantage of extended shelf-life and food safety. Case-ready eliminates problems of cross-contamination in the supermarket with any other product."

Randy Huffman, vice president for scientific affairs at the American Meat Institute Foundation, Arlington, Va., agreed, saying that meat products "packaged at one central and controlled location that's USDA inspected -- unlike the back areas of supermarkets -- [with] more automated, more sophisticated handling, in controlled temperatures and under strict hygiene, gives a safer product."

Microbiologist Jeff Rhodehamel, manager of poultry packaging and cook-in foods at Duncan, S.C.-based Cryovac, told SN that case-ready processing "gets rid of variables in standards of hygiene and the unknowns of back-room supermarket preparation."

Some retailers are not impressed, and say their in-house procedures are adequate to cover the concerns of food safety in regards to ground beef.

"I run a sanitation program each week," said Fairway's Benezia. "Everything we do is to guarantee quality and freshness because that's what our customers want."

But, as Moser pointed out, "if there is a recall with case-ready, then we could pull that particular set out immediately because it's identified on each packet. Before, you didn't know which meat came from where."

Indeed, it is hard to argue against technology's effect on food safety. Case-ready processing is part of that constellation, and fits in with complementary procedures, such as the recently approved use of irradiation on red meat, it was noted.

"[Irradiation] works well with case-ready products, with packages of frozen beef patties for instance," said the AMI's Russell. "This can be important for the very young, the very old and for people with compromised immuno-suppression systems."

Industry observers note, however, it's going to take time for federal regulators to evaluate the wide variety of packaging compatible with irradiation. But as that review commences, irradiation will inevitably come into the larger, case-ready picture. Rhodehamel said that "irradiation definitely makes sense in certain case-ready formats [because then] there is no possibility of recontamination."

Michael Uetz, executive director of retail and food-service marketing for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Chicago, said food safety has been one of the principal forces behind retailers' adoption of the product.

"People are going to centralized packaging because fewer pathogens are likely to come into contact with the raw product than if it's been handled in the back rooms of the supermarkets," he said. "No one knows how customers are going to respond: some want their meat as fresh as possible, cut right in the back. Others understand the need for safety."

As more and more retailers offer it, the NCBA and other trade associations say they're ready to help retailers educate the public, he said, adding, "If you look right now that two of the biggest packers are working with two major retailers, then you can see that case-ready beef is going to be making enormous strides."

Aside from the food-safety issue, Julie Tully, director of marketing and public relations at the Beef Council of California, Pleasanton, Calif., sees case-ready as "ultimately saving money because it's a stocking issue. Retailers are only going to need one or two people to restock shelves."

But the industry has yet to generate statistics supporting that assertion, at least to the satisfaction of most retailers. According to Pat Pines, vice president for education services for the AMI, "there is not enough case-ready in the system to see the effect of reduced labor costs at the store, or increased costs at processing [or] what effect there is on consumer prices."

One industry source told SN that there is an adverse barrier to case-ready beef in many states because "it is going to eliminate jobs, no doubt about it. [In-store] butchers' days are numbered -- which is why there is not much case-ready beef in California. There's strong union involvement there."

According to Moser at Wal-Mart, the labor issues at the retailer's Supercenters have been resolved in large part by "our sitting down with all of our associates and asking them where do they want to be -- taking care of the customers and restocking in the meat department still, or [going] to other places in the store, such as electronics or sporting goods?"

Moser said Wal-Mart executives assured store-level associates that they would retain their present salaries, and that the ultimate choice would be up to them.

"We absorbed whoever wanted to stay in meat, but we're finding they want to look into new departments, so they have taken advantage of this," she said.

Dunn told SN that "there are varying degrees of acceptance and faith in case-ready [but] retailers believe it is inevitable. Each retailer will have to solve their own unique labor requirements."

As for cost-effectiveness, "it depends on whether it's full-case replacement. But there is a significant opportunity to reduce out-of-stocks through case-ready, and a rise of sales has been reported because of that," he continued.

Dunn reported that IBP spent two years examining such issues before introducing its Thomas E. Wilson brand of case-ready products in May.

Citing the company's consumer research in 20 cities throughout the United States, examining the entire spectrum of meat use and behavior, Dunn said the case-ready branded products were "perceived as a better product by customers [because the] packaging doesn't leak, its modified atmosphere extends freshness, operators are trained to place each cut on the tray in the same way, there is a uniformity of look and there is the brand name that the customer can trust."

Thomas E. Wilson case-ready products are being distributed predominantly in the Midwestern states at this time, but will expand into a broad national geography within five years, he added.