GROUND BEEF LINE AT PRICE CHOPPER IT A CUT ABOVE

ERIC THORSEN

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Price Chopper Supermarkets here has upgraded its ground-beef products with new graphics and punchy merchandising that focuses on the subtle flavor profiles in each variety.

The retailer is so sure its customers will be pleased with the new signature line that it is extending its 200% money-back guarantee -- a one-year-old store policy that vouches for quality and freshness throughout the meat and produce departments -- to cover it.

Merchandised under the tag line, "Taste the Difference!," the new varieties were introduced in all 95 units in August and have been selling "really well," according to Joanne Gage, vice president of consumer and marketing services for Price Chopper.

The new line includes 100% certified fresh ground chuck and patties, certified fresh ground round and certified ground sirloin.They are still ground and packaged in-store, but are now distinguished by their primal cut names.

"The most important thing to customers with beef is flavor," explained Gage. "We really feel you get the optimum flavor when you separate the primal cuts. There's a distinct flavor difference between chuck and round and sirloin."

She said that Price Chopper chose to introduce the signature line after receiving feedback from customers during storewide taste tests developed through its demonstration program.

"Through the taste tests within the stores, I think people are very surprised that they really can taste the difference," she said. "Consumers are being surprised at how different the flavor changes are. Different people like different flavors."

To accompany the rollout, new case signs have been designed to promote the products. Each of the signs uses a specific color to designate the particular grind. The color codes also indicate the lean-to-fat ratio.

For example, both the ground chuck and the chuck patties, with lean-to-fat ratios of 80% to 20%, are indicated by a green strip on the bottom of the signs; the fresh ground round carries a blue border that indicates a higher lean-to-fat content, 85%/15%. All the signs also include the "100% certified" stamp, which Gage said means that each package contains the single cut of beef specified on the label.

Other point-of-purchase materials include ceiling signs over the case that reaffirm the merchandising slogan, "Taste the Difference!" A revamped brochure is also available at the the case, which discusses the differences in the lean counts of ground beef, as well as consumer-oriented food-safety reminders.

Also generating consumer excitement are the in-store taste tests, during which the customer samples the leaner ground-beef varieties. Customers were also made aware of the new ground-beef initiative through local radio spots, in-store demonstrations and the retailer's weekly fliers.

In the weekly fliers, the retailer boasts that all its ground-beef products are "100% certified" for content. It also alerts customers that the beef its guaranteed to be flavorful because the grinds are "exclusively from one cut of beef."

"We had to work with suppliers to ensure that what we got was chuck and round and sirloin," said Gage.

At the time of the introduction, the ground chuck was advertised at $1.58 per pound, while the leaner ground round was $1.98 per pound and the ground chuck patties were $1.78 per pound.

If a customer is not satisfied with the product, as indicated in the weekly advertisements, he or she can return the item and receive "double" the money back, with "no questions asked."

Prior to the rollout, Price Chopper merchandised its ground beef with more nondescript labels which stated the percentage of lean and fat content.