Sales of case-ready meat continue to climb in popularity and now account for 83% of retail meat packages, according to a 2022 CRYOVAC Brand National Meat Case Study.
According to Stacey Couch, marketing development director of retail and e-commerce at Sealed Air, case-ready is defined as a package with an establishment number. Stores do not have an establishment number.
“When we started this study in 2002, 51% of product was being cut and packaged at the store level. Those numbers have completely flipped and now only 17% is being cut and packaged in store. Now, 83% of everything you see in store is processed and packaged away from the store. That number has steadily risen year over year, and we believe it will continue to climb,” Couch said.
The study, which has been conducted since 2002, shows an upward trend for case-ready meat, growing from 49% in 2002 to 81% in 2018. The study shows turkey and chicken lead case-ready sales. Beef is most likely to still be cut in the store, though case-ready has increased to 71% of packages from 66% in 2018.
