More than B-O-L-O-G-N-A! Oscar Mayer's dominance in the deli category is one part history, one...

As a leader in the hot-dog segment and a pioneer of the lunch-combination solution with its Lunchables line, Oscar Mayer continues to grow its sliced deli business, posting a 4.7 percent gain for the 52-week period ending Aug. 11, 2002, based on data from Chicago-based

Information Resources Inc. (IRI). As the leader, Oscar Mayer is nearing $830 million in sliced lunchmeat sales in a category topping out near $3 billion in annual retail sales. The company's Louis Rich brand, a top-five leader in the sliced lunchmeat category, also helps Oscar Mayer maintain its market share lead, now at more than 29 percent.

Oscar Mayer, separates the service deli from the prepackaged deli section and each is managed independently. Jeff Meyer, senior brand manager of Oscar Mayer's cold-cuts business, says consumer trends in the category continue to focus on taste and convenience. "Because of the harried lifestyle of today's on-the-go consumer, we continue to offer great tasting products that are convenient to our customers and fit their lifestyle," he reports.

Sarah Delea, senior communications manager, says the success of the products is due in part to Oscar Mayer's research with customers. "When we first launched our new Oscar Mayer Deli Style line our promotion and advertising efforts highlighted the great taste and quality of Oscar Mayer ham and turkey through four-color advertisements in major magazines, primarily women's publications," she says.

In its first year of national distribution, Oscar Mayer Deli Style cold cuts comes in six flavors: smoked ham, brown-sugar ham, oven-roasted turkey, smoked turkey, mesquite-smoked turkey, and honey smoked turkey. Additionally, Oscar Mayer Ham and Turkey Variety Paks, a four-flavor, 10-ounce package, offers consumers smoked ham, honey ham, oven-roasted turkey, and smoked turkey in one convenient purchase.

Oscar Mayer expanded its cold cuts offerings in this potentially lucrative category to meet the needs of convenience-minded shoppers looking for recloseable packages to avoid standing in line at the deli counter. The brand also appeals to the 18- to 29-age group, a segment purchasing prepackaged cold cuts three to five times a week.

"Consumer reception is strong. As the leading brand in the cold cuts category, we are focused on growing through product innovations and adding value to our core meat business," says Meyer. "We listen to our consumers who buy pre-packaged cold cuts and focus on meeting their needs"

Packaging for consumers

In addition to its position as a share leader across the cold-cuts category, Oscar Mayer seeks out innovations in packaging. The company has a long history in new product introductions with all Oscar Mayer offerings sold in packages featuring the company's trademark yellow banners.

The Oscar Mayer Deli Style package is a resealable pouch inside a cardboard carton, offering flexibility for display. The carton can hang in the pegboard section of the deli case, or if the retailer wants to display the product in a cooler, the carton can be stacked.

"We have a great track record of successful new products. If you look at our deli-style cartons, consumers can easily see the meat," says Meyer. "New products must have these attributes built in right away to attract consumer attention."

Sharing food safety advancements

According to Delea, providing safe products is a priority for Oscar Mayer. Company researchers have long understood the benefits ingredients play in making food safer.

When scientists learned that a specific combination of sodium and potassium lactate and sodium diacetate in product formulations could effectively inhibit Listeria growth in cured ready-to-eat meats, this information was shared with the industry as another tool to make products safer for consumers.

"Kraft [Oscar Mayer's parent] is committed to delivering high-quality products to our consumers, and we constantly explore new technologies to further improve the quality of our products," says Delea. "At the same time, when it comes to food safety, we feel it's critical to ensure that everyone within the meat industry has access to new technologies and applications."

To expedite industry knowledge and use of this food safety innovation, Oscar Mayer shared the research with the entire meat industry through meetings, presentations, and journal articles. Oscar Mayer also entered into an agreement with Purac America Inc., a supplier of sodium and potassium lactate and sodium diacetate, to distribute a CD-ROM based upon the company's Listeria-control ingredient technology. The CD-ROM is available to the industry without restrictions, and at each individual meat company's discretion on the appropriateness of using the technology in its manufacturing process.

REFRIGERATED SLICED LUNCHMEAT - TOP 10 BRANDS

Excludes Wal-Mart/Excludes Random Weight Products

TOTAL U.S. - F/D/M (Supermarkets + Drug Stores + Mass Merchandisers ex.
Wal-Mart)

52 Weeks Ending Aug 11, 2002

                                                 DOLLAR     DOLLAR
                                  DOLLAR        SALES %      SHARE
                                   SALES      CHG YEAR AGO  OF TYPE

RFG Sliced Lunchmeat          $3,081,814,784      3.0%       100.0
  Oscar Mayer RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                     $829,471,104      4.7%       26.9

  Private Label RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                       469,11,584     10.0%       15.2

  Butterball RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                     $156,235,744     12.3%        5.1

  Hillshire Farm Deli Select
  RFG Sliced Lunchmeat          $118,976,008    (12.4%)       3.9

  Buddig RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat              $115,250,536      5.6%        3.7

  Louis Rich RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat              $110,017,192    (11.5%)       3.6

  Land O Frost Premium RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat               $75,384,936     (4.4%)       2.4

  Bryan RFG Sliced
  Sliced Lunchmeat               $67,792,824     (7.5%)       2.2

  Bar S RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                      $62,032,488     11.4%        2.0

  Eckrich RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat               $60,524,604      8.6%        2.0

                                                 UNIT
                                  UNIT         SALES %
                                 SALES       CHG YEAR AGO

RFG Sliced Lunchmeat          1,396,330,048     (0.2%)
  Oscar Mayer RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                     308,408,288      2.4%

  Private Label RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                     262,006,464      2.6%

  Butterball RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                      58,763,700      7.2%

  Hillshire Farm Deli Select
  RFG Sliced Lunchmeat           54,974,824    (13.6%)

  Buddig RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat              110,695,160     (0.3%)

  Louis Rich RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat               43,565,600     (9.5%)

  Land O Frost Premium RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat               18,822,798     (5.2%)

  Bryan RFG Sliced
  Sliced Lunchmeat               29,292,788     15.2%

  Bar S RFG Sliced
  Lunchmeat                      31,883,330     15.2%

  Eckrich RFG
  Sliced Lunchmeat               26,398,394      6.9%

Source: Information Resources, Inc.

RELATED ARTICLE: Company: Oscar Mayer Foods (Division of Kraft Foods)

Location: Madison, WI

President: Rick Searer

2001 Revenues: $3.6 billion Oscar Mayer and Pizza Segment, Kraft Foods North Ameirca

Business: A nationally branded meat's processor with an array of products targeting retail and foodservice segments.