SURFEIT OF MEAT EXPECTED TO SPUR MARKETING SHIFT

LAURA KLEPACKI

PHOENIX -- Record supplies of meat and poultry coupled with shifting consumer demands are going to force retailers to change the way they market meat.

That is according to Joe Leathers, director of merchandising for the National Pork Producers Council, Des Moines, Iowa.

"We have to improve the worth of what we are selling, and there are many ways to do that. But we have to start thinking like consumers, not meat people," said Leathers, who along with K. Alan Warren, meat director for Brodbeck Enterprises, Platteville, Wisc., spoke on value-added meat programs at the annual Meat Operations Conference of the National Grocers Association/ National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association held here Sept. 10-13. "We in this industry for years and years and years have sold meat and sold meat wonderfully. Now it's time to start to get out there and market it to the consumer and tell them how good it is and how easy it is to prepare -- whether it is beef, pork, or poultry."

Leathers said surveys show that consumers are going back to doing more cooking in the home, but yet want meals that can be prepared quickly and easily. Studies also show, he said, that 70%-80% of all meat is sold on impulse.

"So we have to bring the joy, the pleasure and the appeal back into cooking. And we can do that by adding value, by offering kabobs or stir fry, where all the ingredients are right there," he said.

Rethinking marketing is especially crucial as production of beef, pork and poultry are all at record levels, Leathers said.

"You've got something facing you in the next 14-18 months that you have never seen before -- and that is the biggest mountain of meat that has ever been known for us to have to sell," Leathers

said. He said the pork, beef and poultry industries will be asking a lot from retailers and wholesalers. "They are going to ask you to add new value and ideas to product and, most important, to add more opportunities to sell more product," Leathers said.

"We are not going to be able to put out big hunks of meat and hope the consumer buys it, we will have to market it," he said.

The number of hogs slaughtered in 1994 is expected to reach 94 million, up from about 90 million in 1993, said Leathers. In 1995, that number is expected to reach 96 million.

At the same time, beef production also has been on the rise and poultry production is continuing to increase at the rate of about 4-5% a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Leathers said the pork industry campaign, "The Other White Meat," has helped convince consumers it's "okay" to eat pork. Next year, he said the industry will launch another marketing program to lure customers to pork.

Industry sources said the plan is likely to include incentives for retailers to feature more pork in ads and also to highlight value-added pork products.

Warren of Brodbeck's, which operates eight supermarkets under the Dick's banner, credits value-added meats introduced last year for improving meat sales.

The products are given their own section in a multitier self-service case. "We wanted to make the value-added section something of our signature section in our meat case, because quite frankly we were tired of our meat distributions which have tended to go down," he said.

"We are in competition with a lot of other departments in the store," said Warren, citing frozen foods, particularly pizzas, and value-added, ready-to-eat items available in its delis. "All of that has cut into meat distribution. And I think value-added is a way to turn that trend around."

To come up with items for the program, the company has worked closely with a spice supplier and a packaging company. Sales have been particularly strong for kabobs, said Warren."We sell as many kabobs as we can make."

Items are introduced one at a time and store employees are encouraged to cook and try the products. "If they like it, they'll sell it," said Warren.

At least one or two value-added items are featured each week and demos are held regularly, he said.

Cooked prime rib, procured from a food service operator, has proven "very popular" said Warren. "All customers have to do is heat and serve it."