Food Processing - February 2008 - (Page 20)

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT While no healthier than fast food, Oscar Mayer Deli Creations Complete Sandwiches delighted our taste testers with components and convenience in a hot package. A truly craveable sandwich in a box By Hollis Ashman, Jacqueline Beckley and Jennifer Maca, Consumer Understanding Editors T he sandwich traditionally has been consumed under time or working constraints. Its customizability can make it a more healthful alternative to fast food. Given the myriad of filling options available at the supermarket, the sandwich should be anything but boring. But what if you don’t even have enough time to pull out ingredients and assemble them to take along for lunch? Oscar Mayer Deli Creations Complete Sandwiches have been created to fill the need for a hot and comforting lunch that requires no advance planning. For this review, we focus on Steakhouse Cheddar. The target consumer wants a premium product that can be made quickly without having to slow down his daily routine – but he does not want to trade quality for speed. Heated sandwiches contribute to the increase in sandwich consumption. If you’ve never been asked if you want your sandwich toasted, you haven’t been to a national sandwich chain recently. Other trends in this category include bigger portions of meat, which average about 3.6-oz per sandwich. While the regional addition of quirky ingredients such as french fries, cabbage slaw or even steamed green beans makes for interesting conversation after a business trip, most consumers stick to the basics: ham, turkey, or roast beef with Swiss, American or cheddar. They are willing to pay a premium price for the simple sandwich if the quality and freshness are high. Typical retail packaging ranges from cellophane overwrap in supermarket delis to paper wraps and boxes. While boxed sandwiches speak well to premiumness, some consumers will express concern for an overabundance of packaging around something as “simple” as a sandwich Branded sandwiches in the refrigerated section of the grocery store is a fairly new category. As consumers eat more and more of their calories out, retail grocery is competing head-to-head with fast food and quick-service restaurants. Fresh formats in the grocery store are competing with frozen and refrigerated. This is the real battle line for gaining consumer choice for a convenience brand. Consumers can be drawn to ready-to-heatand-eat meal solutions and will use them to replace home cooking or dining out – assuming quality and variety aren’t compromised. Beyond frozen Crustables from Smuckers, which are focused on kids, and frozen versions of wraps and calorie control sandwiches (Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Stouffers), branded refrigerated sandwiches and wraps is a new category. Oscar Mayer Deli and Kraft’s South Beach are the few brands goWWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM 20 • FOOD PROCESSING FEbRuaRy 2008 http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - February 2008

Food Processing - February 2008 Contents Editor’s Plate NewsBites Regulatory Issues The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Product Spotlight Ingredients From Where? Product Development RCA Show Review Plant Operations Packaging New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - February 2008

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