Enhancing Commercial Food Service Sales by Small Meat Processing Firms

Excerpts from the report Introduction: This study is designed to provide a concrete set of marketing tools for any small operator (rancher, slaughterhouse, or food processor) interested in selling value-added meat products to the rapidly growing commercial food service sector. To pinpoint which products and services available from small-scale local manufacturers are likely to be most attractive to commercial food service customers, researchers from Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) surveyed nearly 200 restaurant and other food service buyers in Texas about their meat purchasing habits and preferences. The resulting research report attempts to help increase sales of value-added meat products by small firms to restaurant and other food service customers by: • Highlighting the factors that most strongly influence food service buyers when making meat purchasing decisions; • Identifying the types of restaurants most likely to purchase meat products directly from small local purveyors—and the types of specialty/custom products they are most likely to want; • Assessing areas of competitive advantage for small-scale local manufacturers in the restaurant and food service industry; and • Recommending specific business strategies that are likely to be most effective when approaching individual segments of the restaurant and food service market.