KANSAS City, Mo. – Dave Young’s words of criticism were sobering for cattle producers listening to his analysis of the falling retail beef market.
“Every cut of beef should look like your commercials, or you should stop making commercials,” said Young.
The beef industry has failed to understand the rise of consumer power, Young told a subcommittee meeting of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention here.
“You’re going to have to change and be in greater harmony with the customer or you’re going to lose more market share,” he said.
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Young backed up his analysis with sales figures from his own grocery chain, Marsh Supermarkets Inc., serving two million Americans a week.
Customers driven away
He has watched beef’s share of the meat case shrink each year. About 30 percent of his meat sales are beef. People have developed a taste for a broader variety of foods but quality problems have also driven them away from beef.
Cuts look unappetizing in the meat case because they are dripping with blood, fewer people know how to prepare it properly and the beef dinner ends up tough.
“You have to deliver a trouble-free product … or the American consumer is not going to buy it,” he warned.
Consumer studies show that almost half the meals in urban homes are prepared by teenagers who are not experienced cooks.
“Forty-four percent of all teenagers prepare the family meal and you want to know what your problem is,” he said.
Food must be easy to prepare because young people and working women won’t take time to cook a big meal.
“Seventy percent of all working customers allow 15 minutes to prepare the evening meal. How does beef fit in this concept?” he said.
Each year, he sees chicken steal a little more of the consumer dollar away from beef.
At one time, Young said his stores threw away chicken wings when they couldn’t sell them for 19 cents a pound. Now they’re worth $2.99 a pound and come pre-cooked in 16 ways. His stores sell about 100,000 pounds of wings every month.
