Luncheon meats
beef over
market sharePugilistic pork products
push and shove
for shelf space
Eh! Get beef! It's the cry that instantly gathers a crowd for a display of fisticuffs.
Anyone looking for a good fight need look no further than the luncheon meat cans on grocery store shelves.
Duking it out for market share are heavyweight Hormel Spam and contender Tulip Luncheon Hash with Real Bacon in regular and low-sodium preparations.
Oh, there's also Armour Treet, Western Family Canned Luncheon Meat, Celebrity Luncheon Meat and several other brands.
Danish-made Tulip hit Hawaii store shelves the week of Aug. 11 and made a big splash at the "Perry and Price" 20th-anniversary breakfast at the Sheraton Waikiki last Saturday. Its can and color scheme are familiar, as are the luncheon meat-topped musubi on the front and other serving suggestions and recipes on the back.
Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp. made its own big splash Wednesday when it unveiled collectors' edition cans for Hawaii, picturing Spam musubi flanked by kitschy hula dolls. The Spam can story is making its way around the world via CNN.com and other news organizations.
Is something rotten in Denmark?
The corporate intelligence leak probably traces back to Hawaii's talk-story culture, as Tulip distributor Advantage Webco Dodge Hawaii had been developing the packaging with the Danish manufacturer and local focus groups for two years.
"We were approached by a national retailer about this product being a winner in Guam, and they asked us to look into it," said Greg Gomes, president of Advantage Webco.
STAR-BULLETIN PHOTOS
Tulip Luncheon Hash with Bacon, left, is making a splash in Hawaii as Hormel is releasing collectors' editions of its Spam.
The Hawaii company decided the packaging was off the mark, "so we invested some money in focus groups and came up with packaging suitable for Hawaii," he said.
The packaging concept is about 1 1/2 years old. One day back then, Hawaii chef and restaurateur Alan Wong was cooking in the Advantage Webco cafeteria while the Tulip representative from Denmark was present.
"We were fooling around (with the food), and we told him, 'This is what we want,'" said Lorie Chang, division manager. "I took a picture, so the musubi on the can was actually done in-house. He took it back to Denmark."
Advantage Webco officials are taking a tongue-in-cheek attitude about the timing of Hormel's Hawaii label.
"What do they say -- imitation is the best form of flattery," said Percy Higashi, vice president.
Recipes were also developed locally for the back of the can, such as Tulip and eggs and a Tulip omelet. "We customized this can for the Hawaii market," Chang said.
So did Hormel.
"They knew (Tulip) was coming," she said.
Hormel's Hawaii-only musubi cans, in regular and less-sodium varieties, will be on store shelves late this month.
Hormel says Hawaii is the biggest per-capita consumer of Spam in the United States. Tulip claims the largest market share in Okinawa and Puerto Rico.
Cans of Tulip were selling for $1.59 from boxes stacked in the canned-meat aisle at Foodland Beretania on Friday afternoon. The shelves were laden with competing brands, but Spam was on special at two for $3 and a manufacturer's coupon was released Sunday, Chang said.
Foodland officials were unavailable for comment. Officials at LH Gamble Co. Ltd., food brokers that distribute Spam, could not be reached.
One shopper who declined to give her name picked up two cans of Spam and said she did not eat preserved meats, but bought cans regularly to donate to charities. Another shopper, who also asked for anonymity, purchased the Tulip product earlier in the week with plans to do a side-by-side taste test. His busy schedule has, so far, left the cans unopened.
Gomes declined comment on the timing of Hormel's musubi can unveiling except to say, "They know how best to market their product."
Advantage Webco assembled what it calls "survival kits" as an introductory promotional effort. About 150 packages containing two cans of Tulip, a 2-pound bag of rice and a package of nori were prepared as table favors for the "Perry and Price" anniversary show.
"We're still getting requests for them," Gomes said.
New Tulip musubi survival kits include Aloha Shoyu, as that company has joined in the giveaways via KSSK radio.
Advantage Webco plans advertising, in-store demonstrations and samplings, and other promotions.
Gomes said he does not see launching an upstart luncheon meat against a name-brand behemoth as an impossible dream.
"In some categories, facial tissue is called Kleenex, Band-Aid covers the category and a luncheon meat product has a name that covers that category," Gomes said.
Tulip, however, is "the only one that has bacon," he said.
"It's been very well received. ... I think we'll have a little fun with this."
Available only in Foodland stores until now, Tulip will hit the shelves at other Hawaii stores next week, Chang said.
