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MEAT & POULTRY FROM PAGE 25 “Ensure the offer includes a range of gourmet flavours and addresses consumers health needs with quality meats,” she advised. “Create differentiation and brand signposts on shelf, so it’s not all a wall of sameness, and shoppers can more easily navigate to make the right choice for them.” While Ms McDonald agrees that a value everyday offering is important, she says “stretching the category beyond the paradigm is essential” and that premium brands with gourmet flavours, such as Beak & Johnston’s Beak & Sons, can provide growth in the premium segment by bringing excitement and interest to the category. Macro Meats’ Mr Graham said: “We’d like to have signage on the shelf, as beef, lamb and chicken do, just so our product is easier to find.” He also advises retailers to collaborate, adding that Macro Meats is fortunate to have great support from retailers, which are happy to look at new innovation and discuss category opportunities. Crazy for croc Naturally Wild claims that since Covid-19 hit Australia in March, its crocodile meat sales have increased by more than 150 per cent. With this success, Coles has recently agreed to extend Naturally Wild’s crocodile range – Crocodile Tail Steak and Crocodile Sausages – to selected stores in Victoria. Before this, Coles had tested the products only in NSW stores and demographically appropriate postcodes. “We’ve had many Victorians ring us to request croc for dinner,” Naturally Wild founder and owner Marnie Flanagan said. “Now we can let them know where to find it.” The Naturally Wild brand “promises” its products contain no hormones and are all natural, with production involving minimal human handling and no feedlots. “That’s the criteria our range must meet, which is audited,” Ms Flanagan said. “Game meat has superior health benefits: \[it’s\] naturally lean, low fat, high protein.” The company has been working closely with North Queensland and Northern Territory crocodile farmers to bring Australians hand-cut meats that it says haven’t previously been available at the supermarket. “I grew up on an isolated property in NSW near Dunedoo, where the meat is untouched and food is 100 per cent natural,” Ms Flanagan said. “It’s about time the country meets the city with the best we have to offer.” 26 RETAIL WORLD SEP, 2020