MEATING BARRUCADES

LAURA KLEPACKI

Meat and potatoes may seem pretty basic, but for some supermarkets actually cross merchandising between neighbors in the fresh aisle is proving to be a complex undertaking.

In the name of value-added merchandising, traditional barriers between meat, produce and other fresh food departments are at last being challenged, if not toppled. But according to retailers and industry marketers contacted by SN, it's not happening too swiftly or easily in most cases.

That is likely to change, they said, especially as operators look for ways to extend their meals-oriented selling beyond the deli and food-service departments.

Cross merchandising may pick up as well after meat executives turn their battleships in the direction of category management, sources said.

Lots of people will have to be turned around, however, before cross merchandising among fresh departments becomes the rule rather than the exception.

Retailers said cross merchandising could eventually lead to the permanent merging of some, if not all, fresh food departments. Still, at present the limitations also reach beyond the traditional, to operational concerns such as the varying refrigeration requirements of products from different disciplines. And who gets the ring?

"We have to change a lot of people's mind-sets and habits, and, of course, there are union issues, and other problems that need to be addressed over the next few years," said John Story, director of meat operations for Fairway Foods, Northfield, Minn.

How rapidly cross merchandising spreads, he said, "depends on how serious we really are about this meal solution thing." He did predict that meat, produce, deli and possibly dairy departments of some retailers will one day operate at the store level under the same umbrella, rather than as autonomous units.

On the other hand, there is no indication that this is about to happen at the stores operated under the Holiday Markets banner, he admitted.

Other retailers said they are further along, but are getting there in fits and starts. Even at chains considered more progressive, once one looks beyond the deli it can typically be hard to find anything beyond packages of stuffing near turkey and bags of sauerkraut displayed next to pork packages.

Dick's Supermarkets, Plattesville, Wis., is not heavily cross merchandising meats and produce, but is planning to add a new 20-foot multideck case in one of its stores that will be used as a "meal solutions center."

The case, which is slated to be introduced in March, will include stuffed, seasoned and marinated meats, and also value-added produce, including salads, and fully cooked deli items, said Alan Warren, meat director.

If successful, the concept will be rolled out to the company's seven other units, said Warren.

In the fresh meat case Dick's currently uses "a lot of produce in items that are ready to cook," said Warren. "In addition to stuffed peppers, we have beef pot roast with potatoes, onions and carrots."

Warren said the goal behind this plan is to strengthen Dick's presentation of food that features some preparation.

"We have the expertise, the quality and the convenience. Most customers don't look at supermarkets as the source of the meal, but as the source of ingredients. We need to change the customers' opinion, so they see us as a place for the meal as well," said Warren.

Seaway Food Town, Maumee, Ohio, is pushing to cross merchandise in the meat department, according to Wally Bilius, meat director.

"We've accelerated the program with tie-ins. We have found it spurs good impulse sales," he said. "There has been an increase in frequency and also more different tie-ins."

Some winning cross-merchandising efforts at Seaway have included bacon with lettuce and tomatoes, or corned beef and cabbage.

Both are programs begun by the meat department. "Sometimes the produce department will come to us, and slice up onions to be merchandised next to the ground chuck," he added.

The stores have also displayed stir-fry vegetables next to stir-fry meat. "And we mix and match as we go along," said Bilius.

Dave Navarro, meat buyer for Bashas' Markets, Chandler, Ariz., said his stores also cross merchandise produce in the meat department, particularly for holidays.

"It's not something we do year-round, but from time to time," said Navarro. "As a test recently, we tried merchandising ready-made salads next to steaks. But some of the problems you run into are that the meat cases are too cold for the product and it doesn't do it justice."

The occasional stab is also how Cub Foods in St. Joseph, Mo., is dealing with cross merchandising. Duane Koehler, meat merchandiser for Cub, said his stores have been doing more cross merchandising with produce, and he expects that to increase in the future.

Some tie-ins have included hams and pineapples, apples and pork loins, and beef roasts with potatoes, carrots and onions.

The Cub stores have also run tie-ins with the dairy and bakery departments, he said, such as bacon and eggs with biscuits; and a bacon, lettuce and tomato display with bakery bread set up on the back of the case.

Whatever stage they currently find themselves in, most retailers are interested in the concept of mating meat with other fresh foods explicitly in the store, said Kevin Yost, executive director of channel marketing for the Beef Industry Council, Chicago.

"What we are finding is there is a lot of receptivity. Retailers are wanting to do cross merchandising," he said.

The BIC has just completed a cross promotion with Kraft, linking dairy and meat departments, and is planning other branded cross promotions as well, including an upcoming program with Dole, he said.

Joe Leathers, assistant vice president of trade and distribution for the National Pork Producers Council, Des Moines, Iowa, said pressure to integrate meal suggestions will lead more meat down the cross-merchandising path.

"For instance, nobody would know what bok choy is -- but if you take stir-fry meat and put bok choy next to it, people say, 'Oh, stir-fry vegetables!'

"I know sometimes grocery people don't speak to meat people," said Peter Rocha, vice president of West Coast sales for Mallard's, Modesto, Calif., a food-service operator and food manufacturer.

"Sooner or later supermarket retailers are going to want to get back the dollars lost to other outlets," Rocha said. "They have to get everything together for the customer to buy in one fell swoop."