MEAT+POULTRY - June 2015 - 22

COVER STORY

Hillshire Snacking's "Small
Plates" feature combinations
of meats, cheeses and
crackers. Grilled Chicken
Bites feature a single-serving,
portable package of bitesized chicken strips with
dipping sauces.

because neither would have come up with
these new ideas without the benefit of the
other company's expertise. "That's a great
example of what Tyson 2.0 is all about," she
says. "I don't feel like I have to go out there
and acquire new capabilities or new brands or
new technologies. It's all here; it's just about
reimagining it."

RIGOROUS ROLLOUTS
Whether marketing and innovating markers
or meat, "what doesn't change is starting with
the consumer," Grimes says. "Everybody knew
Sharpie as a permanent marker; everybody
knew Jimmy Dean as sausage or Ball Park as
a hot dog." The challenge in all those cases
was to imagine these products in a broader
sense. For example, transforming the image of
Ball Park to represent "guy food for better guy
times," she says, which opens the door from a
marketing standpoint to a flood of marketing
and innovation opportunities. Similarly, when
thinking about Jimmy Dean as more than just
sausage, but as a comfort-food experience,
the branding potential spikes, and it is that
potential that motivates Grimes.
Reimagining possibilities for Grimes and
her team means assessing current trends and
what is hot in contemporary food culture
today. At Tyson, gathering data and assessing
consumer needs is achieved as part of what
is known as its Demand Map, blending the

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MEAT+ POULTRY | 06.15 | www.meatpoultry.com

art and science of innovation. This approach
divides consumers into segments to define
them in terms of who they are, why they eat
and what they eat.
In terms of mining sources to determine
trends, Tyson taps many consumer research
firms and applies logic and market intelligence
to the findings of its many partners. Grimes
makes a distinction between "big data"
and Tyson's "smart data" approach, which
incorporates the art of applying intuition to the
science of data collection. It was this approach
that led to the development of some of the
newest products under Grimes' leadership.
In September, Tyson will roll out a line
of beef and pork jerky products under
the Ball Park brand. In mid-March, Andy
Callahan, president of retail packaged goods,
discussed the new line during a presentation
at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe
(CAGE) conference.
"We are going to disrupt this category
with a product that is flame grilled, which is
differentiating within the category," Callahan
said. "Therefore, it will taste better, and it will
provide a tender differentiating opportunity,"
which was affirmed during test marketing.
"Our customers are extremely excited about
this opportunity," Callahan added.
The new line features five flavor profiles
and capitalizes on Ball Park's No. 1 position in
the beef hot dog segment. The flavors include:
Bourbon BBQ Beef, Original Beef, Peppered
Beef, BBQ Seasoned Pork and Teriyaki Pork.
When Hillshire Brands acquired Golden
Island, it also adopted its kettle-cooking
method used to create its beef jerky, while a
flame-grilled process is used to manufacture
its pork variety in the line. The new Ball
Park products, Grimes says, are a different
formula and a different approach but utilize
elements of the Golden Island technique.
"We've learned from that process," she says,
which is proprietary and delivers a more
tender product.
The snacking segment is another area for
new product introductions. Also slated for
national distribution in July is the Hillshire
Snacking "Grilled Chicken Bites." This line
features a single-serving, portable package of
bite-sized chicken strips with dipping sauces
in multiple flavors. Additionally, Hillshire
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