s Marketing Opportunities For Smaller Packers DENVER, CO Packing industry concentration has created marketing opportunities for small er, independent meat packers. That’s the message James H. Bruce delivered at a recent West ern States Meat Packers Associa tion convention in Palm Springs, California. Bruce is group director of lamb marketing with the Ameri can Sheep Producers Council (ASPC). Independent meat packers are in excellent position to differentiate products for particular market seg ments. “You can be successful if you arc an effective niche marke ter,” Bruce said. Large U.S. corporations have typically pursued a convergence strategy in marketing according to Bruce. Under this strategy the company markets one product line to meet all demand requirements. This is the marketing counterpart to product standardization and mass production. The result is a price-driven commodity market. The alert, smaller company that is willing to change quickly can alter products to meet particular consumer needs. This strategy of divergence recognizes that the market is composed of numerous market segments. “Identify one or more segments of the market and satisfy their needs better than any one else. Your chances of success are much greater than competing m the price-driven commodity business,” Bruce said. Market segmentation leads to product differentiation. “If you know your market well, you will be able to develop and promote differences between your product and those of your competitors,” Bruce explained. The key is to develop a firm market position that >s relatively insulated from price competition. Manufacturers of automobiles, hot dogs and soft - These cattle are enjoying the spring weather on their Chester County farm. drinks have accomplished this. “There is no reason we can’t do this with fresh meat,” Bruce said. Markets may be segmented on a demographic, geographic or vol ume basis. However, according to Bruce it may be more productive to segment the market by product benefits. For example the hot dog market has been segmented on the basis of nutrition, value/price, party/fun and ethnic appeal. Bene fit segmentation starts with know LITITZ (LANCASTER) Soil erosion in Pennsylvania was reduced by more than 2.6 million tons in 1987, an increase over the 1.8 million tons of a year earlier. According to a report released by the USDA Soil Conservation Ser vice, this marked increase was due to the planting of highly erodible cropland to grass, trees or wildlife shrubs under the Conservation Reserve Program. About 47,000 acres of highly credible Pennsylvania cropland have been taken out of production and pul into a soil saving use in the first five signups. This change in land use has reduced soil erosion in the state by almost 850,000 tons annually. SCS officials predict even larger gains in the next decade due to the conservation provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill. Present regula tions require farmers to develop conservation plans for their highly erodible cropland by January 1, 1990. Plans must be installed on the land by January 1, 1995. , “Much of SCS’s efforts are going into planning now,” said ing what’s important to consumers. There are many market seg ments for fresh American lamb. The foodservice trade may be seg mented by clientele groups and price range. Retail lamb sales may be divided by customer needs. Stores with service meat cases in upscale neighborhoods have diffe rent needs than the high volume self serve meat departments. Lamb also can be differentiated New Government Farm Program Increases Soil Savings Frederick Bubb, SCS spokesman. “When the planning demand is met and the effort moves to applying the planned practices on the highly eroded acres, soil savings should increase considerably.” The SCS report further notes that soil-conservation practices were completed on 215,000 acres in 1987, lowering soil loss by 1.8 million tons. Soil loss in Pennsyl- YORK Involvement in 4-H not only teaches youth about lead ership and responsibility: it can also help them further their educa tion. A Pennsylvania 4-H alumna, Susan c lsenhart, Thomasville, York County, received financial help for college from national 4-H sponsors in 1986. The American Cyanamid Company and Land O’Lakes, Inc., sponsor the 4-H Dairy Scholarship competition at the National 4-H Congress. American Cyanamid and Land O’Lakes look for several qualities in the six scholarship winners they sponsor each year. These include National Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 14, 1988-C5 according to product origin, “cuta bility” and product convenience. Identify customer wants and needs and match those to product bene fits. ‘Then we need to work together to aggressively promote and merchandise your fresh American lamb products,” Bruce said. ASPC is committed to working with packers and processors to develop specific joint merchandis ing programs according to Bruce. “Just as you need to differentiate vania averages 115 million tons per year. Among the practices applied by more than 13,000 landuscrs were 24,000 acres of contour strip crop ping, 80 miles of diversions, 56 miles of terraces and 140 miles of sod waterways. Technical help to apply the soil saving practices was provided by the USDA Soil Con servation Service. Sponsors Help 4-H’ers an awareness of the scope and eco nomic significance of the dairy industry, dairy production skills through the ownership and care of dairy animals, knowledge of the marketing, processing, distribu tion, consumption and use of dairy products, and an understanding of the nutritive value of dairy pro ducts- and promote its use. American Cyanamid is a research based biotechnology and chemical company. The company develops medical, agricultural, chemical and consumer products around the world. These products have helped improve human and your products we must be willing to differentiate our market deve lopment programs,” Bruce concluded. The American Sheep Producers Council is a producer funded market development organization headquartered in Deliver, Color ado. The Council conducts adver tising, promotional, educational and marketing programs on behalf of the nation’s 114,000 sheep producers. During 1987, 24,447 farmers and other landusers received assis- tance on soil and water manage ment from SCS. Technical ser vices of SCS are provided through county conservation districts. Additional information on ser vices available can be obtained by contacting the local office of the Soil Conservation Service or coun- 1 ly conservation district. food production. Lake O’Lakes, Inc. is owned by 350,000 Northcentral region far mers. Headquartered in Arden Hills, Minn., Land O’Lakes is known for its dairy products. The corporation also sells feed, seed, petroleum, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers. Through their financial contri butions, both sponsors keep 4-H’ers interested in the dairy industry. For more information about the 4-H Youth Program, contact Roxanne Price, Extension 4-H Agent, 112 Pleasant Acres Rd., York, PA 17402, Phone
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