Food Packaging: Packaging moves fresh irradiated beef at Wegmans
A funny thing happened on Wegmans Food Markets' way to selling rolls of irradiated ground beef: the novelty of the packaging and its no-leak virtue may be driving more sales than the added safety.
The Rochester, N.Y.-based supermarket chain introduced irradiated ground beef in 1- and 3-lb. chubs in May 2002, adding hamburger patties in MAP packaging a year later. Based on focus group interviews with frequent purchasers, the chain determined the chub was a bigger draw for repeat purchases than the irradiation process. "That surprised us," confesses Wegmans' Jeanne Colleluori.