HI Everyone !!
 I came across this article and it's about one of my pet pev's !! When I started in our business every meat cutter I knew could tell a customer how to cook the meat he cut. It was something we worked hard at just like we worked to be one of the best meat cutters. I had my own recipe box that I took from market to market, I read recipe books, i talk with the older women and got them to give me some of their special recipes.
Over the years as our business change it's one of those things we don't do any more !! NOW from reading this article I see some companys have woke up and trying to get this started again. Myself I would love to see it happen again, That is my opinion,  READ this article, then tell me, WHAT IS YOURS ????

 Meat cutters have long spent their days slicing and dicing hunks of beef, pork and poultry. But surprisingly few knew precisely what to do with those roasts, steaks, chops and filets. Now supermarkets are trying to educate their meat cutters on the finer points of actually cooking the stuff they cut.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. is having its cutters watch cooking videos and take quizzes posing questions like "What is braising?" Supervalu Inc. hands out black binders as thick as football playbooks with "speak the language of beef" inscribed on the cover. Some supermarkets are sending workers to Beef Training Camps.

"Before, I'd tell customers just to squeeze out the blood and add some salt and pepper," says Aram Dakarian, meat manager at a Jewel supermarket owned by Supervalu in Chicago. Now he eagerly offers cooking tips. For baked chicken, he recommends olive oil with a dash of lemon pepper. For steaks, a garlic or peppercorn seasoning rub, or two hours soaking in a wine sauce marinade.

"I only used to know the best cut to make the most money-but not the best way to cook it," says Mr. Dakarian, a 26-year meat cutting veteran who is proud to still have all of his fingers. "Now, I'm getting more in-depth with the meat, looking at it more like a chef. It makes me feel good."

Mainstream grocers are beefing up customer service at the meat case in a bid to stanch the outflow of shoppers to supercenters, drug stores and smaller-selection stores like Trader Joe's. Fresh meat is key to retaining and luring budget-conscious consumers making fewer shopping trips and dining more at home. Meat itself accounts for about 4.1% of supermarket sales (not including supercenters), according to market researcher Nielsen Co.

The focus isn't on health advice, but grocers are banking on shoppers' willingness to pay higher shelf prices in return for general dinner advice. "If I was cooking a roast and I burned it, I could be out $20 or $25," says Jim Hertel, managing partner of Willard Bishop LLC, a grocery consultant. "That's a lot different than saying my Pop Tarts got burned."

Fresh meat sales at supermarkets have risen 12.2% for the 52 weeks ended July 11, says Nielsen. And supermarkets are now the most shopped retail channel as measured by visits, overtaking mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Stores Inc. for the first time since 1999, according to a study released last week by WSL Strategic Retail, a retail and manufacturer consultant.

It's too early to tell whether the recent moves have paid off in a big way.However, Supervalu, whose training of meat cutters coincided with the launch of a line of angus beef, says sales have exceeded expectations. At Winn-Dixie, customer satisfaction has seen a "significant increase," a spokeswoman said.

Decades ago, meat cutters at neighborhood grocers formed close bonds with shoppers, remembering names and preferences. But as those stores expanded into sprawling supermarkets in the 1990s, the emphasis shifted to churning out enough hamburger patties and chuck steaks to fill meat cases. As lower-priced supercenters entered the fray, many grocers reduced the number of cutters per store to trim costs. However, some high-end grocers like Northeast grocer Wegmans Food Markets Inc. remained dedicated to meat-case service.

Meat processors enabled grocers to reduce meat-cutting staffs by delivering what had been 200-pound carcasses in smaller, presliced pieces. A lot of poultry and pork began to arrive prepackaged and frozen. Many meat cutters disappeared from the meat cases to backrooms where interactions with shoppers were reduced to announcing sales over intercoms.

According to the Department of Labor, in May 2008, 131,000 were employed in the US with 88,920 Butchers and Meat Cutters employed in Grocery Stores. The annual mean wage was $30,130 with the top paid (90 Percentile) being paid $45,060. "Employment of highly skilled butchers and meat cutters, who work primarily in large supermarkets, is expected to only grow 2 percent 2006-16 decade due to the proliferation of case-ready meat products"

"Meat cutters have a reputation for not being the most personable, outgoing types of individuals," says Frank Thurlow, Winn-Dixie's director of meat and seafood merchandising and a former meat cutter. "I mean, we sit in the back room all day and cut up animals."

Publix Super Markets Inc., Lakeland, Fla., has knocked down walls behind the meat case in some remodeled stores, creating more of an open space where shoppers can peer in at butchers carving sirloins.

Included in Supervalu training kits are pocket cards detailing how to properly greet customers and big pin-on buttons reading: "Ask Me How to Speak Beef!"

A short promotional video features grinning meat cutters chatting with customers and steaks sizzling on a grill. In one scene, a woman raises her eyebrow as a voiceover booms: "Beef-it's our common language and shared passion. It's a language that causes knees to go weak and mouths to water."

Source: Wall Street Journal, Timothy W. Martin, 8/11/9