TO BEEF UP SALES, SHOW HOW TO FIX IT: CONSULTANT

ROSEANNE HARPER

NEW YORK -- Supermarkets can make fresh beef their competitive edge if they show consumers the way to a good beef-eating experience -- the secret lies in the retailer's ability to maximize merchandising strategies for the variety of cuts of beef in the supermarket meat case, according to a meat-marketing expert.

Rick Dawrant, a principal in Blattberg, Chaney & Associates, a Chicago consulting firm, said that, with today's increasingly intense competition, the meat case is pivotal in the battle to gain market share.

"It's a point of differentiation from others in the marketplace that can be used to draw consumers in and retain them. If you have a better beef section than anybody else, they'll shop your store because they'll have a great beef experience and they can get all the other things they need from you, too," Dawrant said.

"You have a slight edge with the fresh-meat section. There's not one around in every single gas station, convenience store and drug store like a lot of other products are."

But instead of the magnet it could be, the variety of beef cuts often presents a danger because consumers aren't familiar with the cuts and don't know the appropriate way to cook them. For example, a customer who doesn't know how to prepare a cut that needs to be marinated and slow-cooked might grill or broil it -- with disappointing results, Dawrant said.

"What are the odds of his coming back to the case?" Dawrant asked, pointing out that the customer will probably blame the piece of beef, not his method of cooking, for his disappointment.

He emphasized potential sales can be lost if operators do not take some time to educate customers on how to use each cut of beef.

"Here's a true story. This was in a supermarket in Chicago. There was a guy in front of me at checkout with a six-pack of Budweiser under his arm, a couple of ears of corn, some baking potatoes and a round steak. It's summer, a great day. What do you think he's going to do with that round steak? He's going to grill it, and that's not going to be a good beef-eating experience."

He also recounted a story in which a young, newly married woman had been given a recipe that had been handed down through the family. It called for a semi-boned chuck roast. When she went to the meat case she couldn't find anything labeled like that, so she walked away.

"She didn't know that there are other great cuts that could have been used in the same way as called for in the recipe," Dawrant explained.

Dawrant, like other speakers on the Summit program, suggested using the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's "Beef Made Easy" merchandising plan [see "Pathmark Set on Chainwide Makeover of Meat Cases," SN, June 21, 1999] to simplify buying decisions for customers and to instruct them in appropriate cooking methods. He cited the success of one supermarket operator who is using the plan.

"A retailer in the Midwest, on this program for six months, increased dollar sales of the total fresh-beef category by 12.7% over the same period a year earlier, and pound sales by 11.1%. Those figures come from Information Resources Inc.," Dawrant said, in a reference to the Chicago-based firm that tracks sales of various categories in retail stores.

What's even more revealing is that the retailer saw a 16.1% sales increase in value-added beef and a whopping 26.1% jump in beef for sauteeing, he pointed out. The latter figures underscore two facts: customers are looking for time-saving products and they'll buy beef when they're told what to do with it, Dawrant said.

He noted that much of the value-added and beef for sauteeing was from cuts from the round, which retailers most often move out of the case with a promotion price. If retailers package it sliced thin for sauteeing or stir-frying, the same product can command a premium price because it offers convenience for the customer.

"There's a lack of knowledge as well as a lack of time. Both factors have changed what people do at home. Our research has shown us that consumers have four meats they know they can prepare: ground beef, premium steaks, boneless chicken breasts and pork chops. Their family likes those; they know how to cook them; and they're quick," Dawrant said.

The NCBA's Beef Made Easy program is aimed at getting those time-starved consumers to choose beef instead of a pork chop, and to take advantage of the variety of beef cuts offered instead of settling for ground beef, which is less profit-producing for the retailer.

The program involves organizing the beef section in the meat case not by cut, which has been the traditional way of doing it, but by how each cut should be cooked. Brochures available at the point-of-sale explain the different cuts of beef and outline cooking methods that promise to make each cut of beef a good eating experience.

"This isn't just a signage and label program. It's a total-information program. Putting brochures in the hands of workers at retail and in the hands of the consumer is an important component," Dawrant said.

He stressed that the program was designed particularly to fill the void that's caused by the labor shortage these days.

"What we could really use is a 'parts pro' in the meat department. An information worker, but where do you find them? This program can be used for educating the consumer, who really does want to know more about the products he's buying.

"When the customer sees a particular cut of beef, he can reference that in the brochure and see what's the best way of making this cut a good eating experience. With labels and signage and strips, [the NCBA program] segregates out the beef section to make it an easier experience for the consumer.

"And, if he wants to grill that night, he can choose from the section marked 'Grilling.' Or if he can take more time to cook, he can choose from the 'Roasts' section," Dawrant said.

He advised retailers to ask themselves if their meat-case merchandising has kept pace with the changed lifestyles of today's consumer.

"We ask the retailers we work with to step out of their role and think for a minute like a true consumer. To help them do that, we ask them to think of a wine display," Dawrant said.

"It looks like a sea of red, at least it does to me. There are confusing and unfamiliar brands and varieties," he said. "And there's fear of failure. You want your guests or your spouse to be satisfied with what you bring home. So, you limit yourself to the cuts you know."