Where is the supermarket industry on case-ready fresh meats?
Most assuredly, the industry is moving in the case-ready direction. Wal-mart has moved forcefully, using both Thomas E. Wilson and National/Farmland case-ready beef and pork steaks, chops, roasts, thin meats and ground meats. Some divisions of Kroger are selling case-ready beef and pork cuts supplied by the Excel Corporation. Many supermarkets still put most of their fresh red meat items on foam boards, overwrapped with PVC film, but have other cuts (veal, lamb, variety meats, high-lean beef grinds, slow-moving Natural/Organic cuts, etc.) in case-ready packages. Back-room labor issues have hastened the move to case-ready meats in geographic areas where there are shortages of personnel and slowed the move to case-ready fresh meats in geographic areas where union contracts preclude use of such technology. A second concern is that of storage-life/caselife of case-ready fresh meats. Depending on whether such cuts are prepared at packing plants or satellite centers, distribution and display
