It's a staple in delis in every state except the Dakotas, is sold at Yankee Stadium and is even available in the Pittsburgh International Airport, where there is a cafe branded with its name. "Boar's Head is pretty much everywhere," said Mitchell Sejzer, who works in the deli at a Sunset Foods store in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park, noting that the brand accounts for about 75% of the store's deli counter selection.
So just how did this brand — which is oddly named after a swine's head — get to the top?
Tight-lipped and private, the family-run company has muscled its way to the top of the premium deli meat category through aggressive sales and distribution tactics and a marketing budget that dwarfs its nearest premium rival in the largely commoditized category.
To be sure, Boar's Head does not hold a lunchmeat monopoly. Far from it: Cheaper private-label meats still control a majority of volume, said Jim Prevor, founder and editor-in-chief of Deli Business magazine, who also runs a blog called Perishable Pundit. But Boar's Head is the premium brand leader, he said, probably followed by arch-rival Dietz & Watson of Philadelphia, also a family-run, private company. (Market share numbers are not publicly available.)
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