Price most important for meat shoppers

The retail price of supermarket meats is stabilizing but the impact to the category from the rampant inflation over the last few years remains.

Even with the cost of many cuts declining, sector activity is stagnant with volume sales down 1.3% for the 52 weeks ending April 23, versus the year-earlier period, reports Circana (formerly IRI and The NPD Group), a Chicago-based market research firm. Dollar sales were up 2.4%.

Because meat department inflation was greater than store-wide averages and the category was one of the first to sprout strong price increases, many consumers still shop the sector with a “high-price mindset,” said Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods for Arlington, Va.-based FMI — the Food Industry Association.

Seventy-six percent of meat and poultry shoppers, for instance, indicated they are changing their purchasing behavior, up from 72% in 2022, according to the Power of Meat 2023 report, published by FMI and the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education.

Such adjustments involve the amount of meat and poultry being purchased (cited by 78% of shoppers); the species being bought (76%); type of cut (74%); brand (71%); and where they are buying (64%).

More shoppers, for instance, are purchasing thinner meat slices, switching to lower-priced selections within a species (like buying chicken legs and drumsticks instead of breasts), and seeking
private-label options, Stein said.

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Meat department operators, meanwhile, can further fuel activity by offering selections that address the specific interests of shoppers in each neighborhood, provide meal ideas, and spotlight the savings from preparing meats at home versus visiting restaurants.

“The good news is that restaurants have also experienced extraordinary inflation and consumers are realizing how expensive eating away from home is,” FMI’s Stein said.

Retailers also can emphasize value by spotlighting the more economical cuts via social media messaging, point-of-sale materials, in-store signage, and interactions with butchers, he added.

“Shoppers are looking for lower-cost alternatives,” said Peter Swanson, senior consultant of the Circana Fresh Center of Excellence. “The key is to focus on the cuts that offer a taste and quality experience but could be one-half to one-third the price” of previously purchased varieties. In the beef sector, that may include spotlighting shoulder petite tender instead of such middle meats as beef ribeye, strip steaks, and tenderloins, he noted.

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Family and value packs, which contain greater volumes of meat at a lower per-pound price, also are becoming more popular, said Chris DuBois, Circana executive vice president of the protein practice.

It is vital, however, that retailers leverage packaging that keeps the family pack meats fresher longer to reduce waste and attract repeat buyers, Swanson added, noting that such designs could include individually wrapped portions.

Retailers offering meats in functional and innovative packaging also should play up the packaging by emphasizing how the designs will extend the shelf life at home or the freezer-ready properties of vacuum packs, said Anne-Marie Roerink, principal and founder of 210 Analytics LLC, a San Antonio-based market research and marketing strategies firm, which prepared the Power of Meat 2023 report.

Creative promotions that target price-conscious shoppers can generate greater activity as well, she said, and may include one-day, three-day, happy-hour, weekend, and mix-and-match deals along with the traditional one-week features.

Retailers can further drive interest by offering personal discounts and meal suggestions to shoppers via the store app after analyzing the customers’ past purchasing behaviors, Roerink said. The historical data also can pinpoint the most effective areas of the store in which to situate cross-merchandising displays, she said, noting that the most successful merchandisers “fish where the fish are.”

Displays near the front entrances of outlets can be particularly effective, said Tim Kent, director of meat and seafood for SpartanNash Co., a Byron Center, Mich.-based operator of 144 corporate-owned grocery stores under 10 banners in nine Midwest states, including Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, and D&W Fresh Market.

Such displays, which SpartanNash offers in most outlets, enable shoppers to easily create affordable meal solutions and “indulge a little at the same time,” he said.

Kent stated that the SpartanNash banners are merchandising selections “to meet every need and budget,” and piloting different advertising vehicles, including “flash sales,” in which point-of-sale signs instruct shoppers to go online to find an item’s sale price.

While beef is still the most popular meat choice in stores, whole chicken and pork chops sales are rising as more shoppers seek value, he said, adding that packaged lunch meats also are “performing well, confirming a growing demand for convenient and affordable meal options.” 

Lower-cost proteins, including chicken, are the top sellers at PCC Community Markets, a Seattle-based chain of 16 area stores, said David Sanz, the chain’s meat and seafood merchandiser. The retailer lowered its 2023 meat margin budget to offer lower everyday pricing on key items, while also featuring a variety of meats in its weekly ads, he stated.

Yet, PCC is also emphasizing higher cost value-added selections, including marinated and seasoned cuts, burgers, and kabobs, to simplify meal preparation, Sanz noted, adding that ready-to-cook value-added has been one the chain’s fastest expanding categories with double-digit growth in 2022.

“Most people are comfortable and confident when it comes to cooking chicken,” Sanz said. “Many other proteins have a perception of being difficult to cook, or rather daunting to prepare.”