Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009 - (Page 72)

Fresh food Master beef backer This grocer’s knowledgeable meat director shows how you can move more meat in a murky economy. “In order to stay competitive, we shifted toward more value-oriented cuts of beef and grades to drive the Bob Moylan explains the attributes of the sales, and it’s been very fruitful for Western Griller to a loyal customer of 11-store, us.” He adds, “We posted a record New England-based Johnnie’s Foodmaster. year with beef sales.” Foodmaster, long renowned for its quality fresh meats, has continuously worked to develop new ways to add value to its customers’ shopping experiences, through the implementation of new programs. But in a period when “price has definitely been a key factor,” Cremens says the grocer “adjusted our buying habits accordingly, to find value items to drive price points on our front-page ad,” which he maintains remains “a huge consideration for attracting shoppers to a store and making it a destination shop.” With roughly 85 percent of all of Foodmaster’s beef offerings hailing from the Wooster, Ohio-based Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand, Cremens says as wholesale prices and retails “began creeping up and up, our margins weren’t giving us the same returns as they did in By Meg Major H eading into a year when price promises to be a bigger factor in meat purchase decisions, grocers, and especially independents, will need as much firepower as possible to keep meat case sales sizzling. While some grocers are anxious about the potential for an especially steep drop-off in post-holiday meat department sales, John Cremens, director of meat operations for Chelsea, Mass.-based Johnnie’s Foodmaster—more commonly known locally as simply Foodmaster—expects that the more aggressive planning and forecasting efforts he initiated last year, particularly in the beef category, will keep the 11-store chain’s meat sales humming in the coming months. “After the first quarter of 2008, we noticed that our beef sales were struggling, and we quickly realized that we needed to make some key changes with our merchandising outlook to better respond and adapt to the economic environment,” recounts Cremens. D NE BUSINESS.WELL The 2009 Annual Meat Conference will provide tools and insights to help you improve operations and increase profits, market more effectively and increase customer loyalty. MARCH 8 – 10 72 DENVER, CO • Progressive Grocer • January/February 2009 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE PRACTICAL IDEAS TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS A BUSINESS WELL DONE. WWW.MEATCONFERENCE.COM A H E A D O F W H AT ’ S N E X T www.progressivegrocer.com http://WWW.MEATCONFERENCE.COM http://WWW.MEATCONFERENCE.COM http://www.progressivegrocer.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009

Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009
Front End: Aldi’s Private Label Showing its Fitness
Nielsen’s Shelf Stoppers/Spotlight: Prepared Foods-DryMixes/Rice Mixes
Market Snapshot: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Outstanding Independents Awards: Up with People
Current Events: Retail Newsmakers
Contents
Lempert Report: The Phoenix Format Face-Off
Independents Report: Making your Workplace Family-Friendly
Multicultural Marketing: Where there’s Mystery, there’s Margin
Wake-Up Call: New Habits Die Hard
Beverage Alcohol: Wine 101
Soft Drinks: Creating a Buzz
Whole Grains: The Brown Version
Packaging: The Whole Package
Meat: Master Beef Backer
Pet Care: Financing Fido
Executive Insight Series: Technology and the Independent Grocer: Eye of the Gale
Equipment Case Studies: Food. Service. Equipment
Financial Insights: What the Yield Curve Shows
What’s Next: Editors’ Picks for Innovative Products

Progressive Grocer - January/February 2009