Focus on American Lamb for Cross-Promotions that Make Dollars and Sense
Deciding to showcase American lamb in your meat case is only the first step in the process of improving your bottom line through American lamb sales. The next step is to create sampling programs and cross-promotions aimed at the holidays. Encourage your customers to coax the best flavor from American lamb by strategically pairing it with herbs, seasonings and wines that marry well with lamb’s flavor profile.

Taking advantage of restaurant trends and growing food knowledge among your consumers to capitalize on the good buzz about American lamb is just one creative way to help fatten your retail meat department's bottom line. Carefully select items that not only offer quality, but the best value for your customers. Plus, when you offer your customers tips for preparing and pairing their American lamb that result in a sensational meal, you’ll build goodwill and loyalty among your customers.
From holidays today to every day later–your customers will discover the versatility of American lamb and keep coming back for more for all of their special and every day occasions.

American Lamb Marries Perfectly with Wines from Around the World
While countless home cooks and chefs have already discovered the wonderful versatility and pure, mild, delicious flavor of American lamb, there’s another reason to enjoy lamb. According to wine expert Karen MacNeil, author of the best-selling book The Wine Bible (Workman Publishing), American lamb is the perfect all-around meat for wine. “American lamb is the quintessential accompaniment for a wide variety of wines from around the world—reds, whites and roses,” says MacNeil. “A glass of great wine brings out lamb’s succulent, mild, meaty flavor and makes it even more irresistible.”

Work with your beverage manager to carefully select the perfect wine pairings for a variety of American lamb holiday cuts and recipes. Then, educate your meat counter team to present the pairings to your customers. You’ll not only offer your customers stress-free holiday planning with great ideas, you’ll provide them with good value, too.

Seasonings
The movement towards more global flavor means that more consumers are indulging in flavor experimentation. This often means that they are likely to be willing to pay premium prices for premium products. The mild flavor of American lamb lends itself well to many seasonings.

Teach your customers seasoning strategies that utilize sauces and seasonings that complement American lamb without masking meat’s mild, buttery flavor. Your customers can add flavor and character to lamb by using spice rubs, herb pastes and marinades carried in-store and strategically placed near your American lamb display or meat counter. Your seasoning tips may just lead your customers to discover a new family favorite!

You can keep it as simple as keeping Kosher salt and black pepper corns nearby. If your store sells household goods, you might even locate handy tools nearly such as a mortar and pestle, pepper mill or roasting pan. You’ll not only give your customers great ideas, you’ll help ease the stress of holiday shopping!

Fresh Herbs
More and more retailers are coming up with unique ways to market in the face of the tighter purse strings this holiday season Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and mint naturally enhance the flavor of American lamb. Place fresh herb bundles around your American lamb display along with simple recipe cards for a cost-effective way to dress up American lamb for the holiday season.

Try making a gremolata dry rub or tapenade utilizing fresh herbs for a fresh alternative to traditional holiday recipes.

When you incorporate the simple merchandising and cross promotion ideas above, you’ll send your customers home with American lamb and all the accompaniments they need to achieve the perfect holiday meal. Encourage your customers to try different cuts of lamb, or to substitute American lamb for another protein in one of their favorite dishes. You’ll not only create a enticing shopping environment for your customers to enjoy, your department will also enjoy content customers and a healthy bottom line