Meat + Poultry - February 2006 - 28

Pork

Patrick Cudahy has introduced several new
packaging options for its products, including
reusable storage tubs for bacon and 4-ounce,
sliced deli products

soned Carnitas for foodservice designed to be cooked in the bag. The
pork in the carnitas is slowly cooked
for seven hours, and plays to another
trend benefiting the pork industry-a
growing interest in ethnic foods. Piggott says consumers are not just interested in ethnic foods, but authentically
ethnic dishes. "When they go out and
look for ethnic, they want real Mexican or real Italian, and that bodes well
for us because pork plays a prominent
role in traditional Mexican food and
Italian food as well," says Piggot.
Processors, including a subsidiary
of Smithfield Foods, Smithfield, Va.,
are also building their ethnic retail
lines. Patrick Cudahy, Cudahy, Wis.,
has several lines of Hispanic products and has expanded its Italian deli
product, Pavone, to include new 4ounce, sliced products for the selfserve deli case. The company's goal
is to provide consumers with education, product demonstrations and recipe ideas with these ethnic products.
Last year, Patrick Cudahy acquired
814 Americas from a Madrid, Spainbased company, and later named Ramon Aldape to lead sales and market30

MEAT&POULTRY

February 2006

ing of its ethnic products.
"Patrick Cudahy has two major
objectives for the Hispanic market,"
Aldape said when he was hired last
summer. "The first is to identify the
key opportunity segments of the diverse Hispanic audience and develop an appropriate market basket of
products. Many Americans don't realize how diverse the Hispanic market truly is. In fact, there is no single
Hispanic market. Instead we have
Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Honduran, Dominican and many other
specific market sub-segments. While
they share many common culinary
traditions, each has its own rich cooking tradition and unique approach to
meal preparation."
Patrick Cudahy recently introduced
its double smoked bacon in a tub.
"This provides storage convenience
with less mess and waste to the consumer," says Sue Huckstorf, marketing manager for Patrick Cudahy. She
says the product comes at a slightly
higher price, "but we feel the consumer is willing to pay for the extra
convenience and reusability of the
carton."
Precooked bacon is the fastest
growing product in foodservice, according to Huckstorf. Thus Patrick
Cudahy expanded operations at its
Golden Crisp Premium Foods division in Sioux City, Iowa, adding two
new microwave bacon lines to meet

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this foodservice demand.
N.P.B.'s Piggott says precooked
bacon continues to grow and adds
convenience for foodservice operators. "Precooked bacon is a flavor
enhancer and a profit builder, and
consumers love the variety it adds to
a menu," he adds. This is especially
true with quick-serve restaurants,
where customers can add bacon to
virtually any sandwich.
Another major growth area within
Q.S.R.s continues to be breakfast,
Piggott says. "That favors us very
well because it is a daypart we are
very strong in, and we don't want to
give it up," he adds.
After negotiating with Wendy's
officials about getting back into the
breakfast business, Piggott says the
fast-food chain has decided do so this
year. "It will be important for them to
come up with breakfast items that are
appealing and accessible for people
to get, but different from what they
can get at their current breakfast provider," he adds.
Wendy's should be able to do this
with the help of its suppliers, as processors are investing in innovation,
according to Piggott. As examples,
most of the major processors-Tyson, Swift, Smithfield, etc.-have
built or are building R&D centers.
New cuts
Even N.P.B. has gotten behind efforts to help processors add value
to pork products. Last year, N.P.B.
identified four new pork cuts from
the pork shoulder and leg, two primals previously overlooked and under valued. These cuts include: the
pectoralis profundi, which are marketed as the "pork breast" because of
its similarity to chicken breasts; the
teres major, a single portion equivalent to a small tenderloin; the gracillis, a thin, striated muscle similar to
flank steak; and the 'knuckle' or vastus lateralis/rectus femoris, a tender,
juicy roast portioned for two.
Seaboard Foods, Shawnee Mission, Kan., has an ongoing R&D

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Meat + Poultry - February 2006

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