WASHINGTON – During the upcoming Annual Meat Conference, which takes place Feb. 20-22 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas, the sixth annual Power of Meat study examining shopper trends in the meat department will be released.

During “The Power of Meat: An In-Depth Look at Meat Through the Shoppers’ Eyes” session, study author Anne-Marie Roerink will provide the latest information on what customers have to say about food spending, protein preferences, the effects of marketing and merchandising on their meat/poultry purchases, packaging and meat preparation. Results will be presented in a format for immediate use in store operations. The Power of Meat, made possible by support of Cryovac, a division of Sealed Air, is research exclusive only to the Annual Meat Conference.


Several questions answered by this year’s data include: How are economic troubles impacting shopping habits? As shoppers return to home cooking, what information are they looking for and do they know how to prepare meat and poultry? How important are healthy choices to the typical consumer? How are organic sales trending? Is there an increased interest in sustainable packaging? Do shoppers pay attention to country-of-origin information?

Co-sponsored by the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the annual conference attracts 800 members of the retail food and meat industries. It is considered the leading educational event focusing on meat and poultry marketing innovations, merchandising issues and consumer purchasing trends, according to its producers.

Associate sponsors include the American Lamb Board, Beef Checkoff, National Chicken Council, National Pork Board and the National Turkey Federation.

On-site registration is $695 per person, $645 for three or more members registering together. The nonmember registration rate is $1,290 per person. Credentialed members of the media will receive complementary registration on-site.

For more information, visithttp://www.meatconference.com/.