SENTRY CHAIN SIGNS UP FOR A SIGNATURE LINE OF BEEF

ROBERT VOSBURGH

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A new beef product line aimed at reinvigorating customer interest in the beef case has been unveiled by Sentry Supermarkets, a 30-unit independent chain based here.

Sentry Signature Beef includes all varieties of cuts, though not ground beef, which is sourced separately from another supplier. David Sorenson, company president, said that the chainwide rollout of the line concluded recently with indications that sales are up about 2% in the meat department (as a percentage of total sales).

"It's the same basic grade of beef we've been using, but it's a corn-fed product," he said. "The product is actually finished on a diet of grains, which is primarily corn."

The beef found in Sentry's cases prior to the change-over had the same grade of quality, but was finished on a diet of vegetable byproducts such as potatoes, according to Sorenson. "You can make a definite distinction" in taste between the two, he said.

The responsibility of ensuring that the source farms maintain the beef on the diet established for the Signature program lies with the buying department of Sentry's wholesale supplier, United Grocers, also based here.

Taste and quality were targeted in all of Sentry's advertising and merchandising efforts during the initial sale period. Each week for eight weeks, the chain's 12-page, full-color circular highlighted a different aspect of the new line on the front page. This message was repeated in bag stuffers during the ensuing week to drive the point home with shoppers.

"It was an educational program to [tell] the consumers what Sentry Signature Beef was," and why they should purchase it over other stores' products, said Sorenson.

At the end of the introductory period, Sentry officials tested customers' acceptance of the new line with a special advertised buy-one, get-one-free offer in a direct-mail campaign. The BOGO required shoppers to purchase one New York strip steak to receive another of equal or lesser value for free. The coupon in the invitation was valid through June 30.

"I haven't got hard figures yet, but verbal response from our meatcutters and owners was that the response to the promotion was excellent," said Sorenson, adding that in instances where the inventory was depleted, customers were issued a raincheck or given a substitute cut of beef, such as a T-bone.

Print advertising has only been one aspect of the department upgrade, according to Sorenson. Before the rollout, the company held educational seminars to improve the selling abilities of meat-department personnel. The goal here was to provide a detailed background on the beef program, such as how it is raised. In turn, the employees could relay the information to customers and entice them into trying it.

One meat manager relayed a story to Sorenson, soon after the promotion broke, about a man outside the chain's market area who happened to see one of the advertisements for the Signature Beef and called the nearest store to get details. Armed with the information gleaned from the seminar, the manager sold the caller on the beef over the phone.

"This [customer] drives quite a distance now, but he keeps coming back to buy our Signature Beef," said Sorenson.

Sentry's new beef program mirrors the growing retail trend toward the "branding" of departments, particularly those selling perishables. Sorenson noted that consumers trust names, and supermarkets can create that trust if they correctly market themselves.

"Everybody's trying to do the same thing," he said. "Everybody's branding their product, everybody's into a 'fresh' mode in produce. This was our answer [to the meat case]."

The company is in the process of applying for a trademark for Sentry Signature Beef, and is investigating more departments in which an identity can be created.