Never mind all the smoke and headlines involving plant-based products. Real meat, poultry and seafood items generate the fire and flame in supermarket sales.

IRI, 210 Analytics and Marriner Marketing joined forces to study meat department sales and trends. In an end-of-year review, 210 Analytics President Anne-Marie Roerink noted that department sales have increased more than $9 billion between 2018 and 2022. Moreover, sales reached a record high of $87.1 billion, up 5.8% from 2021 levels. Roerink reported that unit sales declined for the second year in a row, by 2.8%. However, unit sales continued to trend slightly above the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, despite the substantial increase in prices seen since then.

Looking most specifically at last December, Roerink noted it was a “very strong month” for the meat department with sales increases for dollars as well as pounds.

Besides the impact of inflation, Roerink added that consumers continue to prepare more meals at home (including lunches) and this ongoing shift bodes well for packaged retail foods that serve as snacks and meals of all types.

More Reasons to Choose Chicken

New chicken offerings address three key trends: snacking, health and full flavor.

Targeting snacking with full-on flavor was John Soules Foods, Tyler, Texas. It partnered with First We Feast (Complex Networks) and its “Hot Ones” program to develop a five-item line of Hot Ones Boneless Chicken Bites. Varieties include Original (Classic Sauce), Spicy Garlic (Garlic Fresno Edition Sauce), Smoky Sweet (Los Calientes Verde Sauce), Smoky Habanero (Los Calientes Rojo Sauce) and Barbacoa (Los Calientes Barbacoa Sauce).

Combining snacking with health were Perdue Foods, Salisbury, Md., CAULIPOWER LLC, Encino, Calif., The Real Good Food Company, Cherry Hill, and Ovation Foods Inc., Waterloo, Wis.

New PERDUE Chicken Plus Snackers are bite-sized, 100% natural chicken snacks with a quarter cup of veggies and 9g of protein in every serving. Flavors include Pizza, BBQ, and Firecracker. CAULIPOWER’s new All Chicken Nuggets feature the industry’s only veggie coating made of chickpea and cauliflower, the company says. That translates to 29% fewer calories, 39% less fat, and 27% less total carbs than an average of the leading frozen nugget SKUs.

For its part, Real Good Foods introduced four gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb chicken nuggets and strips. They deliver only 3g-4g net carbs with 23g of protein per serving. Finally, Ovation touts its branded Eggsentials ingredient in three new Ovation Chicken Strips meat snacks (No Soy Teriyaki, Chili Lime, Smokehouse). Each contains the added benefit of one whole egg and a 1.6oz serving delivers 22g of protein, 0g sugar, and 175mg of choline, the company says.

Those companies targeting full-flavor experiences were Perdue; McCormick & Company, Hunt Valley, Md.; and Kayem Foods Inc., Chelsea, Mass.

Perdue said it used a sous vide process to prepare its refrigerated PERDUE Flavor-Infused Chicken portions that take just five minutes to heat and combine with pasta, rice or veggies. The portions come in 12oz bags and three varieties: Sesame Ginger, Green Chili, and Greek. For its part, McCormick extended its southern Zatarain’s brand with a Blackened Seasoned Chicken Smoked Sausage. Taking a more playful mash-up approach was Kayem, which extended its al fresco all natural line with four Tastes Just Like Chicken Sausages. Varieties include Nashville Hot Chicken, Chicken Burrito, Chicken Parm and Fried Rice.

Meat the New Kids

With more consumers still eating at home, meat processors are taking the basics—including bacon, lunch meat and even hot dogs—and elevating them for flavorful new adventure. Still other products appeal for their value-added convenience and sustainability.

Having fun with hot dogs were chefs at Chicago’s Lexington Betty Smokehouse and the Slater’s 50/50 restaurant chain. Lexington owner and Food Network star Dominique Leach partnered with Vender Farmers, Sturgis, Mich., to introduce the Lexington Betty Smokehouse x Vander Farmers Wagyu Dog, made with premium F1 Wagyu beef. Staying true to its beef-and-bacon formula was Slater’s 50/50, who partnered with BAR-S Foods Co. for packaged Slater’s 50/50 Beef and Bacon Hotdogs. Interestingly enough, it was Sigma Foods, a sister company to BAR-S (Sigma Alimentos) that partnered with McCormick & Company to develop McCormick Grill Mates Marinated Bacon in Ultimate Bacon and Smoky Applewood flavors.

Others tackling big base categories were World Select Cuts LLC, Atlanta; Simeks SBC, St. Paul Park, Minn.; and Seemore Meats & Veggies (Sausage Queen LLC), Brooklyn, N.Y. World Select Cuts took its Aussie Select lamb line into presliced, 4oz pre-packaged deli meats. Three varieties include Agave Rosemary Lamb Ham, Lamb Pastrami and Tikka Masala Lamb Ham. Simek’s extended its meatball offerings with two new Simek’s Kids Mini Meatballs varieties: Breakfast Sausage and All Beef. Speaking of breakfast sausage, Seemore Meats & Veggies extended its growing blended meat-and-veggie sausage line with two breakfast varieties: Cheesy Breakfast Hash, and Sweet Potato Sage. Officials say each link with each link contains up to 35% fresh vegetables.

Still more processors were angling for full-flavored convenience, snacking and sustainability appeal. Coleman Natural Foods, Westminster, Colo. (Perdue) introduced three Marinated Pork Loin Filets. The fixed weight, 24oz fillets in three varieties: Original, Salt & Pepper, and Garlic & Herb. In other activity, Philadelphia’s Dietz & Watson took on snacking with four fun grab-and-go Dietz & Dats snack packs. Each comes with meat, cheese, melba toast and extras like sweet dried cranberries or mango and salted almonds or cashews. Varieties include Hot Salami & Fontina, Milano Salami & Asiago, Chorizo & Pepper Jack, and Dried Salami & Provolone.

Thousand Hills Cattle Co. LLC, Becker, Minn., introduced Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed's Barbeque Shredded Beef Brisket and Pulled Pork—each featuring 100% grass-fed beef and pasture-raised heritage breed pork, and combined with Triple Crown Organic BBQ Sauce. Thousand Hills says it adheres to regenerative agriculture practices and is certified according to The Savory’s Institute’s “Land to Market” program, which bestows Ecological Outcome Verification.

Get the Net! 

New products are dramatically expanding seafood’s reach in prepared entrees, sides, salads and snacks.

Taking a fun, flavor-forward approach to light tuna-based meals StarKist Company, Reston, Va. Last October saw it four fully cooked StarKist Smart Bowls featuring seasoned grains, vegetables and wild-caught tuna in 4.5oz open-and-eat pouches. Varieties include including Latin Citrus, Spicy Pepper, Tomato Basil, and Zesty Lemon. Atalanta Corp., Elizabeth, N.J., greeted 2023 with five new 5.6oz smoked tuna products in its Table One line. Offerings include Smoked Tuna in Soybean Oil, Smoked Tuna in Soybean Oil with Lemon and Oregano; and three smoked tuna blended salads with tuna and fiber-rich vegetables and legumes.

Also taking a contemporary approach is Gorton’s Inc., Gloucester, Mass. It greeted the new year with frozen Air Fried Fish Fillets and Air Fried Butterfly Shrimp. Officials say the Alaskan Pollock fillets and shrimp have a lighter, crispy breading with 50% less fat because they’re fried with hot air—not oil—through in a proprietary process. In other news, Gorton’s also added Southern Style Shrimp with coating that features buttermilk, pepper and other southern-inspired spices.

Speaking of the South, SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood (Rich Products) extended its SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered line with a fourth, flavorful variety: new Wild Caught MSC Certified Alaskan Flounder Strips.

Another Rich’s/SeaPak business, Morey’s Fine Fish & Seafood, Plymouth, Minn., took flounder into a traditional entrée. It’s new 5oz Wild Flounder Garlic & Herb fillets (two per box) are marinated with garlic, rosemary, oregano, basil, and parsley and can be prepared in under 30 minutes from frozen.

Other new products framed seafood in other forms. For example, last fall saw Secret Island Salmon, Coral Gables, Fla., introduce seven items including Atlantic Salmon Hotdogs, Smoked Coho Salmon Bacon and Atlantic Salmon Burgers. Del Pacifico Seafoods, Downey, Calif., introduced Wild Blue Shrimp Burgers among three new items. Blue Circle Foods, Washington, D.C. introduced Salmon Hot Dogs. This new year also saw Iceland’s Responsible Foods extend its Naera snacks line with Fish Jerky Crunch in Cheesy Chili and Buttery Herb flavors.