Sausage processor launches starchy contest
By Dani Friedland on 10/5/2010
A great pasta recipe using Italian sausage could win one lucky cook $10,000 from Sheboygan Falls, Wis.-based sausage maker Johnsonville Sausage LLC.
The Pastaville contest runs through Jan. 3, 2011. To enter, cooks can upload as many recipes as they would like to Johnsonville.com/pastaville, along with a photo or short video. Ultimately, six finalists will be chosen for professional preparation and judging. The winner will get $10,000 cash, the second-place winner will get $3,000, and third place will win $2,000.
“Using Italian Sausage instead of another protein like chicken or beef can add great flavor to your favorite recipes,” Johnsonville Brand Manager Bob Fitzgerald said in a statement.
National Meat Case Study shows shifts in branding, labels
By Rita Jane Gabbett on 10/5/2010
The results of the 2010 National Meat Case Study revealed significant changes in the retail meat case in terms of branding, label claims and nutrition and cooking information.
A trend noted in beef and chicken was an increase in value/family packs. In pork, a notable change was a decline in enhanced products. For turkey, a major change was an increase in natural claims.
In lamb, there was an increase in nutrition labeling. The trends in veal included increases in ground veal and in Veal Scaloppini, as well as increased nutrition labeling, according to the study.
The study was funded by the Beef Checkoff Program, the National Pork Board and Sealed Air’s Cryovac brand. The data is benchmarked against previous audits in 2002, 2004 and 2007.
Some of the areas showing the most significant changes included:
Branding: Store brands grew against supplier brands across all proteins. Beef store brands rose to 51 percent from 31 percent in 2007. Pork store brands rose to 26 percent from 19 percent and chicken store brands rose to 35 percent from 26 percent in 2007.
Label claims: Top production claims included “minimally processed” at 27.2 percent, “hormone free” at 15.5 percent, “antibiotic free” at 4.7 percent and “vegetarian fed” at 3.9 percent. Packages with a natural claim rose 3 percent from 2007 to 32 percent of total poultry and meat packages.
Nutrition labeling: Ground beef carried nutrition labeling 81 percent of the time versus 77 percent in 2007. Chicken rose to 80 percent from 74 percent, while beef rose to 29 percent from 24 percent and pork nutrition labeling was unchanged at 53 percent.
Cooking information on meat case items rose to 39 percent of packages from 32 percent in 2007, with the highest increase on ground beef packages.
COOL: Country of origin labeling was found on 75 percent to 80 percent of packages, depending on the protein. Over 70 percent of beef, pork, chicken and veal were labeled as “USA only.” Ground beef was labeled “USA and other” 45 percent of the time.
Case ready packaging increased since 2007 on all proteins except lamb. Ground beef was packaged case ready 71 percent of the time, with poultry 66 percent, lamb 60 percent, pork 58 percent, veal 54 percent and beef 31 percent of the time.
Data collection included store audits of 124 retail supermarkets and nine clubs stores in 51 metropolitan markets across 31 states during the first quarter of 2010. Texas Tech University conducted the bulk of the audits and First Stage Marketing analyzed the data.
