Background
The National Meat Case Study is completed every three years, with funding from the beef checkoff, the pork checkoff and Sealed Air/Cryovac. The study provides a comprehensive look at how meat is merchandised in the retail case – with a look at product carried and information provided on the label or in the case. 2010 was the fourth time this audit was conducted, so shifts that have occurred since the initial audit in 2002 can be analyzed.
Introduction
The size of this audit is impressive. In 2010, trained auditors did multi-hour visits to 133 traditional grocery and club stores, in 31 states and 51 markets. In total they noted the number of packages for each major protein, logged the type of cut, the weight of the package, the presence of bilingual information, cooking instructions and nutritional information. They noted whether the product was store wrapped or had been shipped into the store pre-wrapped (case ready). Items measured include:
•Both the self- and full-service meat case;
•All fresh and “heat and serve” product;
•Close to 160,000 packages of meat, representing close to 290,000 pounds of product; and
•Close to 22,000 SKU’s (stock keeping units), representing unique product options being merchandised to the consumer.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: National Cattlemen's Beef Association
