Proof of Concept development – Ready to Heat extended chilled shelf life red meat products

Summary

This MDC project will evaluate retort meat products with a leading distributor and brand owner who has identified market demand for chilled ready to heat offer. This technology has traditionally been referred to as 'army food pouches' but advancements in pack materials and the value proposition of chilled over frozen and cheaper platforms over high pressure processing, sous vide and freeze drying for example may allow for this product-technology combination to be re-imagined for adding value to Australian red meat. Several beef and lamb concepts will be developed and tested in terms of shelf life, yields, specifications and market feedback.

Objectives

• Where to play – define the value proposition and list assumptions for concepts and target markets
• Prototype – develop 3–5 red meat concepts and validate shelf life, yields, costs and specifications in transforming input secondary cuts into fully cooked (retort) meal solutions; seek market feedback on and test what “jobs are to be done”.
• Business case – determine next steps and product development iterations.

Key findings

RTC Foods have found there is growing demand for cooked meats suitable to foodservice and retail markets both domestically and internationally.
Value adding needs to be tangible specific to the user and that might not always be an end user in the traditional sense, it is often the procurement manager who has the final say and his interests may not relate to quality on the plate.

Value add features need to provide solutions, be it shelf life, carton weight and units, portion size or simply a cost saving on yield. It needs to measure up clearly as a better option.

Successfully completed products included cooked beef short ribs, beef cheeks, beef osso bucco and lamb shanks with preliminary product costings, photos and specifications completed along with market feedback for the concepts.

RTC were able to establish strong early sales on the short ribs and lamb shanks with limited sales on the cheeks and osso bucco before COVID-19's impacts on the foodservice sector stalled market uptake prior to completion of this project. A pivot to retail hot box – grab and go category is now being considered to address key Delicatessen trading department pain points for reducing labour costs, safe handling and hygiene risks for cooking raw products in-store.

Benefits to industry

The meat industry must stay relevant to the market demands and right now this is being tested to some degree by the emergence of meat alternatives and changing dietary habits, particularly in the demographics who like to make a noise via social media.

RTC Foods have committed to a strategy of innovation and niche marketing which we believe will fortify our role in the coming years.

Targeted products built on delivering solutions and continuous improvements to our customers, not just trading a price point to generate sales.

The Australian meat industry cannot always compete on price, but we can compete on quality, so it is essential we make our products consumer friendly if we are to build sustainable supply chains and add value to the whole industry.

MLA action

Future research should focus on rescheduling and planning in market testing to accurately gauge consumers response to these products.

Future research

Due to COVID-19, some of the in-market testing and soft launch that was planned had to be delayed. Future research should focus on rescheduling and planning this in market testing to accurately gauge consumers response to these products.