‘Meat’ Their Needs

If you think private labeling prepackaged deli meats means simply placing a label with your logo on the package, think again. This job requires retailers and marketers to clearly define their brand-building efforts and uncover opportunities in the deli segment.

As with any other new product development venture, key steps must be taken when evaluating opportunities for store brands in the prepackaged deli meats space. Retailers must examine competing products — store brand and national brand — on both their shelves and their competitors’ shelves, determining the attributes, benefits and personality of these products and their brands.

They also could look to the foodservice channel for product development inspiration, says Carol Spieckerman, president of retail consultancy newmarketbuilders. Retailers also must determine key brand-building strategies, asking if they wish to sell the product based on price or based on premium quality and taste, she adds. After this is determined, retailers can find the appropriate supplier to help bring the product to market.

Track the trends

As for product attributes currently trending, recent consumer demand for better-for-you and natural products has influenced manufacturers in the lunchmeat category to develop products that meet this unmet need, says Robert Gay, marketing director at Carl Buddig & Co., Homewood, Ill. Such products include lower-sodium, gluten-free, clean-label and minimally processed items.

Consumers seek these better-for-you items because they’re becoming more interested in the source of the foods they consume, says Michael Quint, vice president and chief customer officer with West Liberty, Iowa-based West Liberty Foods.

“Consumers are becoming more and more interested in where their food comes from. Because of that, private label brands are choosing to showcase appropriate claims and verbiage on their packaging such as ‘no added hormones,’ ‘vegetarian-fed’ and ‘no antibiotics ever,’” Quint says. “Most consumers appreciate having that information at their fingertips and tend to consider the packaging truthful and transparent.”

Taste also matters, of course. Dennis Moore, director of business development at Farmington Foods Inc., is seeing a trend toward deli meats boasting spices and bold flavors.

Package properly

Packaging, too, plays an important role in attracting consumers to deli meats. Gay notes that Carl Buddig has leveraged on-pack stickers — in addition to in-store media — to break through the clutter and deliver messaging that drives trial and awareness of own-brand deli meats.

“On-pack stickers are ideal for delivering product attribute claims and promoting various consumer promotions throughout the year,” Gay says, adding that with shelf-talker and floor-talker programs, the brand is able to visually create an emotional connection with consumers while touting product benefits.

Eye-catching colors and imagery also help to grab attention, especially that of millennials, Quint explains. If the packaging can be tied to marketing materials, then millennials are even more likely to examine it.

“If you can get a millennial to pick up the package, chances increase dramatically that they will make the purchase,” Quint says, noting that millennials live in the information age, when information they seek always is right at their fingertips.

When it comes to packaging claims, the clearer, the better. All-natural and antibiotic-free deli meats tend to include a lot of information, Quint says. Therefore, retailers must make sure these claims are easy to understand — otherwise, they’re worthless.

Also, retailers must make sure they can verify that packaging claims are, in fact, true. The USDA keeps a close eye on labeling, Quint notes, especially when it comes to all-natural and antibiotic-free claims. Therefore, it’s critical to have documentation to back up the claims.

And when it comes to packaging materials, sustainability is a big deal to today’s shoppers. Quint is seeing less of the bulky tub applications; private labels are moving toward sleek, recyclable materials. For instance, many antibiotic-free and all-natural offerings are showcased in cartons, which typically are made from 100 percent recycled and recyclable materials.

“While the resealable function still plays an active role in packaging, we are seeing a decline in the demand for dual-purpose packaging such as tubs that can be reused as storage containers,” Quint says.

Get the most out of merchandising

As for getting the products to fly off shelves, retailers need to carefully think through their merchandising strategy. For example, they need to consider their own-brand deli meats’ points of differentiation — and communicate them wherever possible.

“There is an abundance of deli meats on the shelves today — flavors, cuts, all-natural, etc.,” Quint says. “Find something about the brand that makes it different from the rest and make that apparent and intriguing to the consumer.”

And considering shoppers’ interest in the source of the foods they purchase, retailers could respond by showcasing farm-to-fork information on point-of-purchase displays and other merchandising materials, Quint states.

Shelf design is another point to consider when merchandising store brand deli meats. According to Moore, no one wants to buy the last unit on the shelf, so retailers want to make sure the shelf is always — or always appears to be — full.

“The spring-loaded shelf and racks are a great overall improvement to appearance,” he adds.

Another option is to block off an entire section of shelves to dedicate solely to better-for-you and all-natural meats. Gay notes that a number of retailers are doing this today.

And since retailers own and control the store, they also have a tremendous opportunity to execute creative merchandising strategies.

“For example, merchandise artisan breads and condiments with or near private brand deli meat, and offer sandwich and deli tray ideas and recipes online and in-store,” Spieckerman says. “National brands always long for more merchandising control — retailers have it inherently.”

Do consider eye-catching colors on packaging to appeal to the millennial crowd.

Don’t miss the opportunity to cross-merchandise artisan breads and condiments alongside store brand deli meats

Do offer store brand deli meats with spices and bold flavors.

Don’t make claims on packaging that cannot be verified.