Supermarket Perimeter - January 2020 - 38

Meat & Poultry: Natural meats

While consumers are demanding more claims within the
natural section, they also expect a quality eating experience."
Lisa Scebbi, JBS USA

Marketing Matters

38 - JANUARY 2020

Blended
products, like
Applegate's
mushroom/beef
hybrid burgers,
are surging.

"Consumers want to know more about their beef today than ever
before, especially with all the misconceptions there out there about
meat," he says.
Coleman recommends retailers educate their staff on what the claims
on the labels mean, offer educational materials such as in-store signage
and social media content, and encourage consumers to read the labels.
Zimmerman notes consumers want to trust the labels on what they
buy mean something, and they are paying close attention to how
stores market their natural meats. She suggests retailers should explain
the high on-farm standards that result in label claims that are meaningful to the customers and not simply rely on fancy marketing that is
deceptive.
"Transparency continues to be the key to engaging with the natural/organic consumer," she says. "The points of differentiation and
transparency are in positive animal welfare, how the product helps the
environment rather than destroys it, and how the product supports
family farms and ranchers versus giant corporations taking advantage
of farmers. These are the big concerns for consumers and retailers that
do well explaining how their supply chain supports these areas will be
rewarded."

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NICK ALBI - STOCK.ADOBE.COM, HORMEL FOODS

Obviously, the best way for supermarkets to market natural meats is
to have them available to consumers, and advertise it, because if they
don't, people will take their baskets elsewhere.
"While consumers are demanding more claims within the natural
section, they also expect a quality eating experience," Scebbi says. "This
will drive repeat purchase and growth for retailers."
According to Worpel, the best way to market natural meats is to educate the consumer on the different claims on the packaging and their
meaning.
"Displaying materials at the meat case that help explain the production process and what separates natural and never ever meat from the
other offerings is crucial," she says. "For example, Open Prairie Natural
Meats has a wide selection of POS materials and educational materials
to help consumers and meat managers understand the program and its
unique attributes."
At ACME Markets, natural meats are highlighted regularly in
weekly circulars and often put on sale to drive customers to the meat
department.
"Social media is also a great way to get information out to our customers, both from us and our meat vendors who are trying to reach
younger generations," Bell says. "Some of the cooking shows might say,
this particular brand of natural meat is available at ACME, which gets
our name out there."
Schultz says supermarkets should look for ways to communicate the
"natural" story, explaining it can be a video on a monitor, a banner, or
even a point-of-sale document.
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Supermarket Perimeter - January 2020

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