The Guelph Food Technology Center (GFTC), Guelph, Ontario, Canada, contributed to the development of the new BK(tm) Steak Burger at BURGER KING®, launched in early November throughout Canada.

“The BKTM Steak Burger consists of five ounces of tender, juicy one-hundred percent Canadian steak, piled high with classic steak toppings and served on a corn-dusted bun,” says Lisa Brenneman, manager of research and new product development at BURGER KING Canada. “The development of a premium product using Canadian steak is welcomed by our customers and also benefits the Canadian beef industry, hit hard by the closure of the U.S. burgers to beef from Canada. We expect to serve a whole new crowd of burger lovers who appreciated world-class Canadian beef. GFTC did a great job helping us to develop the right product with the right ingredients for the Canadian marketplace.”

“BURGER KING came to us for help in developing the Canadian version of their U.S. steak burger,” says Paul Medeiros, GFTC’s senior food quality specialist. “This is a high-quality product using Canadian beef, and is a win-win-win situation. Consumers get a delicious new product to enjoy, the beleaguered Canadian beef industry gets a boost, and BURGER KING gets a great new product for their menu.”

GFTC is Canada’s only not-for-profit, non-subsidized food technology center. GFTC provides creative, confidential technical solutions, training, consulting, and auditing to the Canadian agri-food industry in the areas of R&D, product development, packaging, shelf life, food safety, quality, and productivity improvement. Each year GFTC assists more than 500 companies and organizations, and provides training to more than 3,600 people.

Executives from Owens Country Sausage, Richardson, TX, relay the company has combined the homestyle comfort food that consumers desire with the convenience they need in its newest product, Owens White Sausage Gravy. Made with Owens’ premium pork sausage, the product is being introduced in grocery stores throughout the southwest in January 2005.

Owens White Sausage Gravy will be sold refrigerated but may also be frozen by the consumer for added convenience. Each package contains two, 10-ounce pouches of gravy with a suggested retail price of $2.49. The product may be microwaved to be ready to eat in six minutes, or the pouches may be placed in boiling water on the stove to heat.

“Sausage gravy is the ultimate comfort food and Owens Country Sausage has seen an opportunity to deliver this taste to the consumer in a product that can be prepared and enjoyed quickly, said Mike Townsley, Owens Country Sausage president and chief operating officer. “Owens’ Sausage Gravy and Biscuit items is already the top-selling product in its category, so we have high expectations for the white sausage gravy.”

This new products joins the Owens line of convenience foods, which includes Owens Border Breakfast in Sausage, Egg & Cheese Taco; Chorizo Egg & Cheese Taco, and Bacon, Egg & Cheese Taco varieties - as well as Owens Snackwiches in Sausage and Biscuits; Hot Sausage & Biscuits; Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuits; and Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit varieties.

Owens Country Sausage is a subsidiary of Bob Evans Farms, a leading producer and distributor of pork sausage and a variety of complementary homestyle convenience food items under the Bob Evans and Owens brand names, which are available in 30 states.

What else is new?

Author Tim McMahon has compiled dozens of marketing lessons in The Little Green Marketing Book, which are told through real-life stories designed to help readers keep focused on the things that matter in growing their businesses.

Highlights of this book include:

• Five “Keep It Simple, Stupid” marketing rules to live by

• Three reasons your business should consider selling by phone

• Ten reasons new products fail

• Ten reason new products succeed

• Must-have guidelines for successful creating sponsorships

• Eleven things (six short-term; five long-term) to do when you find yourself caught off trend

• How to turn a million mile claim into a million dollars of publicity

• Why you have to have a plan; why you may have to adjust it; and how it will keep you ahead of the game.

• What every marketing student needs to know

• How to plan the best meeting you ever

FreshLook Marketing Group announces the availability of brand-specific scanner-based sales information on deli meats and cheeses, with standardized category definitions and retailer-specific geographies.

Designed to allow retailers to compare their performance with that of the total market in which they compete, the service is the first true category management tool for the $11 billion U.S. full-serve deli industry, the company relays.

Containing distribution, sales, and pricing information on some 2,000 separate brands of meat, poultry, and cheese, the new FreshLook database offers retailers the same detailed and timely marketing research information as manufacturers and producers. Based on scanner data from 17,000 supermarkets and 125 retail accounts, the database includes up to two years of historical information on approximately 200 different types of meats and cheeses. Retailers can view sales in the retailer’s market area (RMA) as well as the broader competitive retail market area (CRMA).

The FreshLook syndicated deli database provides the retailer with economical, monthly information, standardized definitions and the ability to accurately measure his sales results with that of the specific geographic area in which he competes. FreshLook’s deli data is currently being used by manufacturers, producers, and consultants to guide manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and category management initiatives.