Butchers - delicatessens - caterers: 5 challenges to meet consumer expectations

Meat consumption trends have changed dramatically in recent years. The numerous health crises linked to the sector have increased the mistrust of customers, who are looking for as much information as possible about the products they consume, whatever they may be. 58% of Europeans still buy their meat mainly in hypermarkets and supermarkets, but 25% go to butchers' shops, and this figure is rising. 

25% of Europeans buy their meat from butchers.

The important point is that, wherever they buy, consumers are increasingly looking for transparency in the products they buy. Alternatives to meat are also on the increase, and may seem like a threat to your business. However, it may just be a question of adapting and surfing on the wave of new consumer expectations, so that meat can emerge as an indispensable, even irreplaceable, product.

This is the current consumer trend: "consume less, but better". Gone are the first-price products to be able to buy more. Customers now want access to quality products, and are willing to pay for them on an exceptional rather than a regular basis. But to achieve this, they have a real need for information about the products they buy, and are becoming expert labelers, checking that the product in question meets their consumption criteria.

They want easy access to information such as :

• The origin of the meat they eat According to a study carried out by the European Commission, 90% of Europeans want to know the origin of the meat they buy. This is of course not unrelated to recent health crises.

But customers are also looking for short-distance sourcing: In France, 94% of consumers think it's important that their butcher buys from local producers.

• Allergens present in the products they buy With the INCO law in Europe, the FASTER law in the USA and the Natasha law in the UK, transparency concerning allergens present in products is a strong consumer expectation, but also a major constraint for you as a professional. So why not simplify the display of allergens, and put them directly on your price labels for added convenience!
• Labels and awardsLabels and distinctions awarded to meats are a guarantee of quality for consumers. They reassure on :
  • production or manufacturing conditions, as for Label Rouge in France,
  • AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) or PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) in Europe,
  • but also on the commitment to excellence of certain producers and craftsmen, through distinctions awarded at trade fairs or consumer tests.

Organic farming is also an important purchasing criterion. 41% of Europeans want to increase their purchases of organically-farmed meat over the next few years. More than just a trend, it's a genuine choice in favor of the environment.

• Home-made Consuming better" also means that processed products are not industrial, but home-made.  94% of French people think it's important for their Butcher, Delicatessen and Caterer to offer "home-made" products. and this is true of all European countries. A "homemade" product has an image of being of better quality, since it is handmade and linked to the shopkeeper's know-how. This is a real advantage for local shops.

The 4 points mentioned above are an important source of information for consumers. They reassure them about what they are about to consume. It is therefore essential to make them easily available, and even to highlight them, to enhance the value and quality of your products, and to be fully transparent about what you're selling. An easy-to-implement option for this is "all-in-one" labeling. A solution like Edikio Price Tag has software tailored to your business, enabling you to display allergens, labels and other important information directly on your price tags, using pictograms or customized text.

The second issue related to your business is consumption choices involving the reduction or total cessation of meat consumption. By 2020, average per capita meat consumption in France will have fallen (- 1.7 %), from 86.0 kg per capita in 2019 to 84.5 kg per capita. Meat consumption down 2.1 %. These figures are set against the backdrop of the health crisis and the downward trend recorded over the last ten years: - 0.4 % on average per year between 2010 and 2019.

But this trend is not just French. An American has reduced his beef consumption by 33 % since 1970.

There are many reasons for this:

• Health recommendations: the WHO, for example, has recommended reducing meat consumption.
• Ecological concerns: 66% of Europeans said they had reduced their meat consumption for ecological reasons.

Not to mention the growing popularity of vegetarianism and veganism:

1. By 2040, it is estimated that vegan meats will account for 25% of sales.
2. In the UK, nearly 16% of teenagers and young adults no longer eat meat.

So, threat or opportunity?

In France, Interbev, l'association Nationale Interprofessionnelle du Bétail et des Viandes (the national livestock and meat trade association) has taken the opportunity to promote flexitarianism as a communications opportunity. In this way, the profession is aligning itself with the consumer trend to eat less meat, while at the same time communicating the fact that "being a flexitarian means doing without" and therefore not stopping eating meat. A great way to communicate about the butcher's trade in a roundabout way.

In store, so don't hesitate to advise and reassure. In addition, if you have a catering business, it may be worth offering vegetarian or vegan alternatives to attract new customers.

Although the figures are tending to fall, the number of butcher's shops, particularly in Europe, remains high. In Italy, there are almost 30,000 businesses in this sector, 24,000 in Spain and 18,000 in France. Not to mention the high market share of super/hypermarkets for meat purchases.

Whatever the size of your business, you'll need :

• Maintain your relationship with your regular customers
• Retaining occasional or opportunistic customers
• Attracting new customers

So we've talked about it above, for that you have several angles of attack present in each of the issues presented in this article:

• Add value to your know-how by clearly indicating your homemade products, your distinctions, or by having a glassed-in area overlooking your laboratory...
• Adding value to your meats by labeling them in a professional and harmonious way, and thus provide your customers with all the information they need.
• Add value to all the other products in your range in-store to highlight the diversity of what you have to offer.
• Finally add value to your customersby introducing a loyalty card system to be stamped when making purchases.

While it may sometimes seem anecdotal compared to your products, the aesthetics of your store should not be overlooked. Did you know, for example, that improving the attractiveness of a sales outlet during renovation is a major factor in sales growth? The visual impact of your window display accounts for 30 to 40% of sales. Simply because you're visually attracting customers who might not otherwise have stopped by.

What's more, within a butcher's shop :

• The attractiveness and prominence of products is the 3rd most important purchase trigger for customers.
• 46% of consumers only make up their minds once they're in the store.

Product attractiveness and prominence is the 3rd most important purchase trigger for customers

So don't miss out on these sales opportunities!

To do so,

• your customer's purchasing path must be clear and practical,
• readable, detailed information,
• and professional aesthetics.

A simple way to meet these objectives is toadopt labelling that meets your needs and your customers' expectations. With all-in-one solutions like Edikio Price Tag designed for your profession, you can achieve an aesthetically harmonious and professional display. But you can also have easy-to-clean labels that present all the information your customers need on the front, and your staff need on the back.

The final challenge is the development of online shopping habits. Today, it is estimated that nearly 70% of consumers will be shopping online by 2025.. The health crisis of 2020 has only strengthened this habit, as 1 in 2 French people already do their food shopping online.

This digitalization of purchasing may seem a long way off for local butchers. Yet other figures tend to prove that setting up a Click & collect purchasing service can be worthwhile, even for small shops:

• At the end of 2020, 85% of French people believe that retailers would do well to strengthen their click and collect services.
• And 40% of customers who pick up an order say they have bought other products on the spot. Which proves that this service is not incompatible with in-store customer relations.

So what are the real advantages of a Click & Collect service for a butcher-caterer?

• You are for customers in a hurry who want to anticipate their purchases by doing them from home or from their lunch break at work.
• You attract and retain new customers, but also your regulars with a new service.
• You also increase the average shopping basket of your customers (+20% increase compared to a physical purchase), and you top it off with "last-minute" in-store purchases
• Finally, you maintain physical contact with the customer, since he has to travel to pick up his order in any case. He just saves time by not choosing his main purchases!

The Gicquel butcher's and delicatessen had aging labels, which were detracting from the aesthetics of the store and therefore from sales. The owner, who also offers delicatessen dishes, decided to replace his shop's labeling to meet his customers' expectations in terms of image and legibility.

It chose the all-in-one Edikio Price Tag Access solution to enable it to create and print the 150 price tags in its offer.

He was convinced by :

• Edikio Price Tag's ease of use
• The professional, aesthetic look of its new price tags
• The intuitive software enables him to display all allergens directly on his labels.

"With the Edikio Access solution, the font is always the same and the pictograms to illustrate products and allergens are attractive and easy to understand."