Enigma defined; a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.
Likewise I classify "case ready as such". In the latest poll taken by Fdarn it shows that case ready is a pressing issue facing meat cutters today along with labor shortage. Rightly so I'm sure, but as you all well know there are three-sides to every story; your side, their side and the "truth". The truth is this: Case Ready started way back when meat cutters displayed whole body chickens on ice; when beef cuts including ground beef were displayed on butcher paper in service counters, and when lunch meats were all sliced in store.
The beginning of case ready was actually started by us meat cutters. We began to cup up our own chickens, beef, pork and lamb putting the meat in trays and over wrapping them to make it more convenient for our customers and picking up extra profits for our stores. Our name for it was "self-service!" One day a guy walks into my store and shows me a package of hot dogs and bacon prepackaged Remember we used to sell lunch meats sliced by the pound and dogs and sausages by links. Mr. Mayer, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Armour and others helped us out by putting all this stuff in packages for us. At that time we said the crap will never sell. But today pre packaged lunch meat and a thousand other smoked items come in our stores ready to display. Remember, we used to do all of that in the meat department.
We blame the company, we blame the packers but in actuality we started the case-ready movement our selves. And guess what? The packers and the companies were watching, watching where we were going (or should I say growing) with it. However, we left out the real driving force behind case ready. Its not the companies, and its not the packers, it is the customer or (consumer), however you want to defined it. Yes, it all starts with her/him. All businesses rely on signals from the consumer. Examples would be for leaner beef, smaller and more convenient packaging, organic products, fish farms or wild caught, food safety labels and all kinds of other products and information just to name a few.
The signals start with the customer who demands certain products from the supermarket, the supermarket complies partnering with the packer processor, and the packer processor partners with the producers. Allkick-started by the customer.
So basically our industry is a changing marketing evolution and it will continue to do so. Its to late, you can'tstop it and yes case ready will continue to grow. Walmart has forced all its competitors to take a hard look at case ready everything. And little by little Walmart's competition slowly infuses case ready into their marketing plans ever so slowly but albeit steady. The retail grocery industry has become so consolidated that the top five retailers accounts for nearly one half of all grocery sales. Years ago retailers could by from hundreds of packers and wholesalers throughout the country but with this consolidation and power of buying scale they have weeded out the weak suppliers and now they only want to deal with a handful of suppliers on a contractual basis with big name meat and poultry suppliers.
So what are we to do? Lets look at the old service stations from yesteryear. They were great mechanics, they pumped your gas, they wiped your windshield and checked your oil. Now there gone. Nobody cares, especially the consumer. She pumps her own gas now and does her own windows.
Ah! But the consumer is still supplied with gas right? Just think about that for a minute!
To protect yourself and grow in your job; be proactive keep improving, keep learning in your trade. If there is a possibility of cross-training take it, do it. On your lunch breaks instead of sitting in the break room, walk the store, check out other departments, look at the marketing displays. Talk to customers, get some feedback. If you see something that is wrong or dirty or damaged report it, act like your concerned. Keep positive and stay away from negative people in the store. Any management skills you learn either intentionally or by accident is a plus for your growth. Pay attention to what your department manager does. "Make yourself invaluable" by knowing everything you can about how the equipment works in your department, proper set up and take down. Know your store and department policies like the back of your hand. Don't be a smart-ass about this. You are doing it for your self to better yourself either in your store or for some one else. Let people know that you are a serious player and you come to work and carry your share of the load. Keep learning and you will keep growing.
If your company decides to downsize on meat cutters due to case ready they will keep the best employees. However, if you are one that they let go so be it. They may take your job but they can't take away your knowledge you learned on the job. There is an old adage; "cream rises to the top".
When I read that, it makes me think "why don't we just go back to making our hotdogs and lunch meat in store. It might impress customers, reduce costs, and increase demand for skilled professionals." I always found that my storemade breakfast or dinner sausage sold better than the case ready Bob Evans, Jimmy Dean, eckrich or hillshire farms. I would think if I knew how to make hotdogs it would have the same demand. It is no secret that a large percentage of consumers are wary of Wal Mart's chemical enhanced for freshness case ready meat. Just about everyone I know refuses to buy meat at Wal Mart for that reason alone. We could increase our knowledge and reduce the need to purchase case ready products from the packers and just make them all in store. I can see that increasing sales, bring back jobs and higher pay. The tricky part will be getting the top managers to see it that way. But like Coalcracker has said int he past. The MEATCUTTER'S has to stand up to make these changes if they want them.
the evolution from a full service meatcase to a case ready meatcase.....was not the choice of butchers....they may have packaged some items, so customers don't have to wait, or not lose sales later in the day ,,,,,but to what Walmart has now?? gas flushed meats/burger and centralized cutting,,,,with no butchers in the store no special orders, no asking the professionals,,,,no freshness,,is not what butchers of yesterday was striving for...
there are pros and cons of full service and self service cases
ive been involved in setting up many meat departments from blueprints, and even when a new owner wanted just full service,,,i would advise strongly to also have self service cases
lets step back and look at the big picture,,,,,there are many driving forces as to why businesses do certain things,,,
and this is one,,
before the '70's the majority of women, were stay at home mothers and "housewives" ( you don't hear that term anymore)
the lady of the house was usually a good cook and very thrifty, she would go to the butchers and ask questions,,,and took the time to cook wholesome meals.. daughters would learn how to cook from their mothers, as they learned from their mothers
in the '70's more and more women went to college, this was a transitional decade...of a two income household...and the woman working
this is why the processed foods exploded in grocery stores- because they were convenient, and conveniences was king in the '80's
with both parents working,,,,mom didn't have much time to cook after work, also not much time to grocery shop,,,,and she wanted convenience - keep in mind most of the men in the 80's were raised by stay at home moms....so they didn't help out at much as the younger guys do today
so.....meat departments dropped many full service meatcases and went to packaged matcases,,,,for many reasons,,,the main one being mrs consumer was dropping in the store on her way home from work and didn't want to wait in line for full service,,AND I f packaged,,you knew what it costs and how much it weighed (the "con" to a full service meatcase, is a customer doesn't know if that rib eye is going to cost 7 dollars or 12 dollars,,and no one likes to be embarrassed saying they cant afford it)
in the '80's decade, something else is happening,,,the grocery stores are doubling in size and volume..... some stores are doing over 50k, 100k, 200k in the meat departments. and price is a main competitive factor...
note- everyone knocks boxed beef but it allowed the industry to change how stores market to customers...if you want a particular primal on sale,,,you can buy just that (and not worry about too much trimmings or backing up on everything else)..I can buy a bone in top butt not the full loin ..not the side...I can run top butt sirloins on sale for 1.49lb
most chain grocery stores are now 30,40,50 and 80k squ. ft ..huge!!!!
back to mrs consumer, our grandmothers would buy more whole chickens, whole hams, turkeys, beef roasts, pork roasts, because she had all day to cook them.. she would also know how t cut up a chicken and make 3 different dinners from a ham
the new " mrs consumer" again wanted convenience, with the two income households, she could also pay for this, and she was much more squeamish than our grandmothers...she wanted more and more boneless meats to cook quickly, boneless pork chops started outselling bone in chops, boneless breasts started outselling bone in breasts
now also keep in mind....in the '80's the health food Nazi's started preaching LEAN lean lean!!!!!
mrs consumer wanted more quick, easy to cook healthy meals - buying good looking product from a foam tray as great, she didn't have to wait and she could see the price on the package
the 70's and 80's was a transitional time with butchers in grocery stores,,,most stores went to boxed beef , this cut payrolls for meat departments, and gross margins started going up from 20% goals to 24% and 26% plus by the end of the decade
now , the customers still loved butchers, for freshness, special orders and advice,,,this didn't change,,the butchers were still in the store
stores being big and bigger business,,,always looked at cutting expenses,,,lower and lower payrolls (payroll is the biggest controllable expense in their minds) so he big chains,,loved the idea of prepackaged chicken parts.....why pay a high priced butcher to cut chicken??
in the '90's enter in Walmart and the threat of huge club stores....
everything is based off price..or seems to be to compete - the traditional grocery stores /supermarkets had an 86% market share of selling groceries in the mid '80's, now they are down to 50% because of walmart and club stores and whole foods
because of this new competition, the accountants had/have to sharpen their pencils,,,
to cut expense or consolidate with a bigger company for more buying power to compete
and this is where we are today ......lots of market forces in the mix
in fact in the past decade,,the traditional supermarkets are even more threatened not just by Walmart,,,, but by whole foods and the anti-meat agenda crowd...
if we, as meatcutters are wise,,,,we would recognize all the trends and start opening our own small butcher shops, the more a huge store goes case-ready, the more a supermarket sells burger out of a box, he more of a "freshness" void it creates.
thousands of supermarkets and stores have closed in the past decade- most by chasing the price whore- trying to be the cheapest,,,because customers are driven by price- this is where we as butchers need more customers to buy on trust and quality
is their one A & P store still around?? and they use to be the largest chain in the country
