Producers Learn About New
Microwaveable Beef Products

By Colleen Schreiber

COLLEGE STATION — Those attending the recent annual Beef Cattle Short Course here had the opportunity to peruse a beef case full of fully cooked microwaveable products available for today's consumer; later in the day they sampled some of HEB's products.

Texas Beef Council communications manager Lisa Williams and HEB cooked meats manager Molly Meade shared thoughts on the consumer and the revolution that is occurring in the area of new beef products.

"The beef industry is modernizing their product," Williams insisted. "A year ago we wanted to put together a beef case and talk about all these new convenient products. We spent two hours driving around to eight stores in Austin and we came back with only three products. This year we came back with a meat case load of new heat and eat, fully cooked, microwaveable products. That’s where we’ve come in a year," she told listeners.

On display were a variety of products from 10 to 15 different companies, including HEB; Jimmy Dean's meat, vegetable and desert products all packaged in one; Double B products; Sadlers; Stouffer's Skillet Sensations; Flint Hills Foods' Classic Main Course products; Hormel products; and Burnett's Pot roast.

Williams told producers they must first realize that cattle producers are not in the cattle or beef business but rather are in the food business. The consumer, she reminded, votes every day with their pocketbook.

"That means we must understand consumers first. We have to make beef products that the consumer can cook, and something that fits into their busy lifestyle."

Time, she told listeners, is extremely valuable to today's consumers largely, because more women are working and there are more single-parent households.

"Women are in the workforce more today than ever before. When my mom was my age, 29 years old, she was at home with three kids. I, on the other hand, not only have a college education, I’ve been in the workforce for eight years, and I have no kids. All the things that my mom did, cook and sew and clean, I don’t have time to do today because I’m working."

Today 40 percent of households spend less than 30 minutes in meal preparation during the week.

"The question everyone asks is, 'Is it simple, fast, convenient, and how long will it take to clean up?'"

Another factor indicative of today's changing society is that there is a whole new generation, "generation X'ers," who don't know how to cook. They can't cook, but they can microwave anything.

Consumers today, Williams said, can't understand the meat case.

"We have to modernize our product and our meat case. We have to do what the lettuce industry did. They took lettuce, washed it, cut it, put it in a bag, added a few croutons and now chicken. They charge you twice as much, and we buy it. That’s what we’ve got to do in the beef industry: think differently," she stressed.

"Look what Taco Bell has done. Now you don’t have to buy tortilla chips and salsa and beans; you can pick it all up in one. It’s microwaveable and ready to go in five minutes."

Breakfast cereal companies are also modernizing their products and thinking differently, Williams told listeners.

"You can't get much simpler than cereal for breakfast. All you need is milk and breakfast cereal. How simple can that be? Now cereal companies are packaging it all together. If you’re five years old, now all you have to do is take it out of the refrigerator. There's a serving of cereal, milk and even a spoon, and you throw away the dish. They're also now marketing cereal not only as a breakfast food but as snack food. I found it in a convenience store in Giddings, Texas."

Meade, who is responsible for developing HEB’s own line of cooked meats, reiterated that it's the customer, not the beef industry, who defines the value of the beef product.

"HEB can’t afford to produce a product, put it in the case and see if the customers buy it. We have to produce a product for the consumer, one that they request."

Though the beef industry has done a poor job of keeping up with a changing customer, Meade insisted that retailers have done a worse job. To verify that, she pointed out a statistic which indicates that for the first time ever in 1997, food services' share of the food dollar exceeded that of the retailer.

"That means more people are spending their money in restaurants than they are in grocery stores," Meade explained.

Meade came on board at HEB after the company realized it had a "hole" in its meat case. That hole was in fully cooked beef products.

"We get a lot of accolades for how progressive and aggressive we are," Meade said, "but my boss will say that he considers us the best of the worst."

The first fully cooked product introduced was their brisket. The product is pit-smoked for 18 hours, the same way it would be done at home.

"This product is so good, and we sell it so cheap that we know for a fact that food service is purchasing it from us to sell in a restaurant," Meade told the group.

The "anchor" is the product that defines the line. Once that anchor product is developed, she said, the next step is to exploit the position by extending the line. HEB has done that with their brisket category.

"We want to make sure that if you don’t want a five-pound brisket we have something that will fit your needs. We came out with a brisket flat and shredded brisket with barbecue. Now we're working on a fully cooked sliced brisket," Meade said.

Company statistics reveal that HEB did indeed develop a product the consumer asked for.

"They've voted with their pocketbook," the manager insisted. "In 1997 we didn’t have a fully cooked product. Raw brisket was the majority of the mix. We introduced the fully cooked product at Easter 1998. In less than a year the cooked brisket commanded about 30 percent in total brisket sales. That’s huge when you think how many briskets we sell. Our company is the largest brisket sales force in the nation, and we’re nowhere near the largest retailer. We’re heavily skewed toward end cuts."

Raw shares went down dramatically, Meade added, and now the product mix is nearly 50/50.

"The thing to remember is that we haven't sold fewer pounds; the sales mix has just changed. We’re selling more raw briskets than ever before, but less proportionately than we used to."

The first product Meade helped introduce was HEB's fully cooked pot roast. It, too, has been a success, and now the company is looking to create another anchor category and extend the line with a variety of different roasts with gravy completely enclosed in a bag. They've introduced a shredded pot roast made from byproducts of cuts used to make their original pot roast.

"We can’t keep it in the warehouse," Meade explained. "It makes the best hot roast beef sandwich."

One group of consumers who seem particularly pleased with HEB's microwaveable products are the "snow birds" who come to the Rio Grande Valley during the winter months. These people live out of mobile homes or RV's, Meade noted, and they're particularly fond of the microwaveable products because they can cook a meal that still tastes homemade in a confined kitchen space.

HEB also saw opportunities for making ground beef even more convenient.

"We knew we were losing ground beef sales to food service," Meade remarked. "So the goal was to come up with a fully cooked hamburger that tastes like it just came off the grill; something that is better than anything you can buy in a fast food restaurant, that has a gourmet taste, texture, appearance, etc."

It was a tall order, Meade said, primarily because the warmed-over flavor in cooked ground beef had to be tackled. They succeeded to the degree that in the first 50 days after the product was introduced, sales surpassed the $1 million mark.

"It's been a tremendous seller," Meade said.

The grocer is so confident of this new product that they've issued double money back guarantees, Meade said. The burgers come frozen and perform best in the microwave, so even an 11 year-old can now make his own burger.

Plans to extend that line are already in the works. Two and three-ounce "junior" burgers are the next to be introduced. Meade is also working on a variety of flavored burgers like cheddar, jalepeño, and bacon cheddar.

By this fall, HEB plans to have a fully cooked fajita product and a pepper-smoked tenderloin. They're also hoping to roll out a couple of different appetizer entrees ideal for the holidays, like beef cocktail smokies and all-beef meatballs in barbecue sauce.

"The list for the year 2000 is unbelievable," Meade told listeners. "We’re moving fast and furious, and because beef offers the greatest opportunity for us, we’re focusing our efforts there."

HEB, Meade said, is continually looking for partners within the industry who have a similar vision and commitment.

"We feel like there is a lack of cohesion, not just in the beef industry but in the entire meat industry," she remarked. "Customers change so much faster than we do that we're losing market share every day. So we look for partners, producers, packers, manufacturers and retailers, who can help us reach our goals quickly. We want partners who are ready to get up and go. The only way the beef industry will succeed is to adapt to changes that customers are requiring," she continued. "We’re going to have to do it fast, we’re a willing partner to make it happen, and we will make it happen and we’ll work with beef producers to make it happen. As time goes on I feel we’ll reach beyond the packer level all the way back to the production segment to get the product we need."