It’s time to start thinking about some meat case space allocation adjustments for summer merchandising. If you haven’t done so recently, start with a complete breakdown of those refrigerated meat cases and complete a full wash, rinse and sanitize step to give summer merchandising resets a great start.
The hotdog/sausage category will be at peak demand in the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Variety is the key in this category and it warrants a larger space allocation as we move into summer merchandising. Offer local, uncured, organic, grass-fed, kosher and a few high-quality conventional brands, and also include a few varieties of fresh, cooked and smoked sausage in meat case displays and promotions. Work with your grocery manager to make sure there are enough buns and condiments to support your promotions.
The grind category should include and/or expand on prepackaged frozen and fresh-ground beef and turkey patties, gourmet patties and family/bulk packs during weekends and holidays. Both cutting and non-cutting operations should capitalize on grab and go frozen burger promotional displays throughout the summer months as significant sales drivers. A portable, well-signed, auxiliary frozen case makes a fantastic secondary merchandising strategy for those promotions and impulse purchases.
In the poultry category, both cutting and non-cutting operations should capitalize on prepackaged, grab and go, seasoned and marinated boneless chicken breast offerings. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs continue to outpace breasts in percentage of growth and should match space allocations. Look to wings, boneless breasts, boneless thighs, bone-in drumsticks and thighs as main promotional drivers. Capitalize on family packs during the weekends and holidays.
Look to expand your fresh beef category in case-ready middle meats (rib eyes, New York strips, flat irons, tenderloins, sirloins and sirloin fillets). Stores with in-house cutting programs should capitalize on variety in thicknesses and provide a few seasoned and marinated value-added meat options. Pro tip: Cutting operations should offer a few two-, three- and even four-inch cuts during the weekends. The following day, be sure to split the steaks that didn’t sell and replace with a fresh thick cut to minimize shrink. Full-service meat cases should offer sirloin and tenderloin portions wrapped in bacon and priced by each as an effective merchandising method for value price perception.
To drive sales in the pork category, make ground pork a priority to combat the inflationary ground beef prices. Evaluate, update and promote bacon sets all year long. Make sure to stay up to date with popular new flavors and brands, and include a few new, high-quality, conventional bacon flavors along with favorite local brands. The pork rib category (spareribs, St. Louis ribs, back ribs and country style ribs) should play a significant role in display space and promotions during summer. Include recipe cards/instructions for smoking meats and cross-merchandise wood chips near your meat displays. Both cutting and self-service operations should include value-added and unflavored prepackaged pork loins and tenderloins in everyday merchandising and weekly promotions.
In the fish/seafood category, establishing your co-op as the destination for the best salmon in town will likely result in capturing a significant share of seafood customers. Work with your vendors to include a few varieties of both fresh and frozen high-quality salmon fillets and keep product offerings consistently fresh every day. Frozen raw and cooked shrimp will be big sellers during summer months in both full-service and case-ready programs. Make sure to offer a variety of shrimp sizes, both cooked and raw, and use this category to drive sales during summer holidays. Look for other value-added fish varieties to drive sales, such as frozen crab cakes, salmon cakes, seasoned fillets and canned crab. (Pro tip: Don’t neglect the frozen fish category.)
Finally, plan on providing plenty of grilling meal solutions and weekly promotions supported by in-store and digital promotional signage and communications.
