CATEGORY LEADERSHIP AWARDS DELI MEATS

Leaders like Dietz & Watson and Boar’s Head have dedicated their time to ensuring consumers receive high-quality, tasty everyday meat options that have made these companies trailblazers in the category. Whether it’s an addition to a charcuterie board or the main protein in a sandwich, these companies have been paving the way in deli meats for decades.

Since 1939, Dietz & Watson has been making cooked deli meats with hand blended spices and has continued to set itself apart within the category. Dietz & Watson has been devoted to transparency by ensuring consumers know exactly what is going in their food. The company has continued to listen to consumer feedback and launch new products. In 2023, Dietz & Watson launched two new deli meat products with new flavor profiles: Hot & Honey Chicken and Uncured Cherrywood Smoked Ham. The new deli meats are fully cooked and sourced from family-owned farms.

In a previous interview with Grocery Insight, Senior Retail Marketing Manager Taylor Grissinger emphasized the approach the company takes when it comes to providing for its consumers.

“At Dietz & Watson, we sell more than just premium products, we sell solutions. We take a holistic approach when it comes to our business, which to us means working with our customers to accommodate their unique wants and needs outside of the product itself, and into programming, as a means to achieve joint business goals and objectives,” said Grissinger.

Dietz & Watson has found that tradeshows have become a hub for conversations and a strategic place to efficiently conduct business and hear feedback from trusted industry partners. At a recent IDDBA show, D&W mentioned the company was focused on solutions and innovation.

“Our goal for this year’s IDDBA showcase was to present our vision and new solutions for what we have coined ‘Deli of the Future,’' said Grissinger. “The deli has rapidly changed over the last two years and will continue to evolve. With that, we have welcomed the challenge of meeting the new demands of both our retailer partners and the consumer.”

“We sell food and food is relationship based. Customers use each of their senses to taste, see and feel when making a decision. This year’s showcase was not as well attended as in past years; how-

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2023 Category Leadership Awards

ever the retailers that did attend wanted to be there, making for very productive interaction. Overall, the showcase continues to prove to be time well spent for our organization,” she said.

Retailers got a first-hand look at what consumers are looking for. As IDDBA has become a destination for innovation and strategy, retailers that attended the tradeshow were able to share their feedback on the growth of the category.

“You need to be there, you need to connect with the industry and have this special time to deep dive what you are missing,” said Voni Woods with Giant Eagle. “If you don’t, you’re behind. What we do enjoy [at the show is] people [meeting] in person, innovation, awards and conversations.”

Boar’s Head was founded in 1905 in New York City. Founder Frank Brunckhorst was disappointed and dissatisfied with the deli meat available and set out to create a deli meat with a higher standard of quality and taste. The company has maintained its reputation as one of the leading deli meats companies and has also remained family-owned and operated since its inception.