it would be great for independents and butcher shops..
these supermarkets, are doing there homework, surveying mostly women,,,their customer base..
and if in affluent areas, many women are saying they dont eat meat like they use to, they are more eating a plant based diet- this sounds good,,,but it isnt the whole story..
hannaford which is food lions sister supermarket of the east coast- mostly northeast- is already bringing in case ready burger ...more for trace-ability ,,,cya.
bit by bit,,they are eroding the everyday importance of meatcutters...partly because most of the old guard has retired and replaced by executive woman who doesnt eat much meat themselves...and of course to diminish payrolls
however, in the big picture , they are following wal-mart with case ready meats.... and if wal mart is already cheaper on groceries, whats the big draw to bring customers in the supermarkets store??
I copy you on the cya-certainly improves trace-ability versus us guys grinding trimmings from different sources. Yea, the Food Lion CEO is a woman from Hannaford. Her survey says customers just want clean restrooms, nice produce selection, and speedy checkout. The meat guy in the video did not seem too happy, I guess in the back of his mind he feels like a dinosaur about to become extinct, or at least replaced by a packer level cutter. We just got a 41,000 foot Walmart neighborhood store a mile from the 180,000 foot super center-right beside a Food Lion. I was not impressed, but it did lower gas prices a nickel/gallon at the gas station nearest it. I think Amazon will eventually sell more food and should be Walmart's focus, not Food Lion and Dollar General, etc.
i worked for hannaford as a meat manager 20 yrs ago, a lot of good meatcutters 20 years ago, this was about the time walmart was coming in the state, we didnt know at the time wal-mart was going to also be a grocery store powerhouse- they had cutters for about a year, or two,,,then did away with them for case ready
i remember as a young buck clean up kid,,,it was around christmas, in the evening, two ladies gave me a special order for prime rib..(to write down for the meatcutters to do before christmas)
on both orders i forgot to ask the question if they wanted them "boned and tied" and the head cutter hollared at me in front of the crew the next day- i was pissed and didnt understand why the serious reaction over something so "trivial" in my mind
one of the old cutters took me aside and was serious- " you are a part time clean up kid, this is our carreers-everyday, we take this very serious "its all about trust and relationships with our customers"
that one statement -stuck with me thru the years and it is so true today, relationships with the local butcher may be our saving grace
When I worked for The Fresh Market, the meat manager was fired a few days before Christmas. He was upset and on the way out, he took over 100 special orders with him! As people came in, I asked what they ordered, told them, oh yea, I remember that order, we are completing it right now-let me check on that for you-and I hurried back and prepared it asap-what a bad position to be in-but I survived it!
The Food Lion manager for twenty years in our town now works for me as a third cutter and will take the market when I decide to retire. I love it they are doing this , we are reaping the rewards ,rocking and rolling . Great news for the stores that still have cutters.
