This article is part of our in-depth Meat, Fish & Poultry feature.
Once content with slapping ham between two slices of bread and calling it lunch, shoppers are starting to look for a little more excitement from their midday meal.
This is having a profound impact on sliced cooked meats. While the category still ranks alongside milk, bread and eggs as a trolley staple, sales are suffering as consumers swap sarnies for salads and sushi.
“We are consuming fewer sandwiches in home which is having an impact on sliced cooked meats, as 75% of all sliced cooked meats feature in a sandwich occasion,” says Kantar analyst Joe Puddifoot.
Over the past 12 months, cooked meat volumes have dipped 0.5%, with value down 3.6% as supermarkets slashed prices to compete with the discounters. Ham - which accounts for half of total cooked meat sales - saw value sales slide 4.6%, with pork (-8%), beef (-3.1%) and turkey (-4.7%) also taking a hit [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 28 February 2016]. Only Continental meats bucked the trend, with value sales up 4.6%.
Branded activity
As sales stagnate, brands sense an opportunity to steal share from own label and re-engage shoppers with new, innovative takes on cooked meats. In the past 12 months alone, Bernard Matthews has revamped its range of ham, chicken and turkey products, while Kerry Foods and Cranswick both launched new cooked meats brands - quite a turn up for the books in a category overwhelmingly dominated by own label.
So what opportunities have these brands spotted in cooked meats? And what does the future hold for ham?
The sarnie’s fall from grace doesn’t necessarily spell the end for cooked meats, says Kerry Foods innovation director David Hamilton, but changing habits will require a rethink. “On the whole, consumers are bored with cooked meats. They’re looking for inspiration and just aren’t finding it in the ham aisles at the moment.”
”Consumers are bored with cooked meats. They’re looking for inspiration and just aren’t finding it in the ham aisles at the moment.”
This is particularly true of the millennial generation, which has emerged from the recession with a bit more cash. “They have had a tough few years and been saving the pennies, and now expect a slightly different experience,” says Hamilton. “They still want to buy ham and will continue to, but if they find something else a bit more exciting they are going for it.”
According to research commissioned by Kerry, affluent 25 to 30-year-olds are particularly open to using cooked meats across a range of non-traditional occasions - from snacking to tapas - but are currently under-trading in the category.
Kerry hopes to tap this market with the launch of its premium Fire & Smoke brand, introduced last summer. Inspired by the BBQ culture of America, the new range comprises seven pre-packed meats and two deli counter products including Bourbon Smoked Fire Grilled Ham, Fire Grilled Turkey and BBQ Smoked Fire Grilled Shaved Chicken.
Kerry sent cooked meats innovation manager Phil Bowen to America to get tips from the Kansas pitmasters and invested in bespoke equipment for the range. “For an authentic BBQ taste, the meat has to be touched by flame,” says Hamilton.
The sliced meats are also cut thick to make them suitable for a variety of occasions, be it snacking, sandwiches or salads. “We saw the opportunity around informal eating, which can be anything from putting it in a sandwich to taking it straight out the fridge and eating it as a snack,” Hamilton adds.
Giving it some Welly
Mid-tier shoppers are also looking for more difference when it comes to cooked meats, says Richard Morris, divisional marketing controller for Cranswick convenience foods. “Families are starting to look for a greater choice that better represents their lifestyles,” he says. “In particular, we are starting to see them take a lot more interest in where their food comes from and getting closer to the producer.”
Although there are plenty of British artisan products at the premium end of the category, most mid-tier own-label cooked meats are made from EU pork, he adds. “We saw an opportunity for a brand that gives the assurance of British meat from specific supply chains but with a mid-market price tag.”
Cranswick launched 100% British mid-tier cooked meats brand Welly in January 2016. Comprising honey roast ham, wafer-thin honey roast ham, wafer-thin roast chicken and lean breaded ham, the range is priced between £1.19 and £3, with all pork sourced from an independent British pig producer and chicken from RSPCA-assured British farms.
The Welly launch was backed by a social media campaign offering shoppers recipe ideas. “Cooked meats are very habitual and we want to communicate with shoppers and inspire them to think more creatively than just sandwiches,” says Morris.
Bernard Matthews has adopted a similar strategy for its mid-tier cooked meats range, launching a new website with recipe ideas and overhauling its packaging to highlight its British credentials as part of a £3m relaunch of its branded portfolio last year.
Point of difference
Hamilton and Norris agree launching new cooked meats brands into the chilled aisles of the big four could prove tricky at a time of rampant range rationalisation, but insist only brands can give cooked meats the shake-up it needs. “Branded products look and feel different from own label on shelf, and sometimes you need that point of difference to get people excited about the category again,” says Hamilton.
And potential for brand-led innovation in the category is huge, both claim - particularly with the protein boom opening up new opportunities for meat products.
“Cooked meats is regarded as the sleeping giant of grocery,” says Norris, “and I think it will have quite a renaissance in the next couple of years.”
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