The holiday season is the prime time for American Lamb sales, and if you stock your case according to what your customers are looking for, you can be sure to capitalize on the spirit of culinary adventure inspired by the holidays. Your customers want to break out of their daily routines and try something new, starting their own holiday tradition. Check out the list below to see which cuts of American Lamb top the charts and make sure you have plenty of them in stock.
Top Selling Holiday Lamb Cuts by Pounds Sold
1. Leg
2. Shoulder
3. Rib/Rack
4. Loin
Source: FreshLook Marketing, Lamb Total U.S. pound sales, 2 weeks ending 12/28/08
Get a Leg Up
Lamb Leg sales traditionally top the charts during the holiday season. While Lamb Leg Whole Bone-In outsells other lamb cuts by a long shot during the holiday period, there are other leg cuts that will have great appeal to your customers looking for smaller roasts and chops for intimate celebrations including:
Boneless leg
Butterflied leg
Sirloin Chops
Top Round
Leg Merchandising Tips
- A leg of lamb can be intimidating for your customers if they don’t know how to cook it. The number one question the American Lamb Board gets during the holiday season is how long to cook a leg of lamb and at what temperature. Did you know that bone-in legs roast faster than boneless legs? Create signs for your customers with simple cooking time and temperature guides for bone in and boneless legs and merchandise meat thermometers with the lamb. Click here for our guide to cooking times and temperatures.
- Work with your deli’s culinary team to provide a pre-cooked lamb leg holiday meal. As people are eating at home more and looking for convenience and variety, the traffic going to the deli counters is increasing – why not have lamb included in this section of your store as well.
Rack up Sales
An impressive presentation that is surprisingly easy to prepare at home, the rack of lamb offers versatility for holiday entertaining. Rack is the number one selling cut in foodservice. As more and more people are cutting back on dining out and are eating at home more, be sure to stock your meatcase with a cut that your customers are familiar with and a cut that is synonymous with fine dining and special occasions. Featuring rack in your meatcase during the holidays gives your customers an easy way to prepare an effortless, restaurant quality meat at home.
Rack Merchandising Tips:
- Dazzle your customers by bringing back the classic crown roast during the holidays all dresses up with booties. A Crowne Roast is formed by curving and tying together two frenched racks of lamb to resemble a crown – perfect for holiday stuffing or roasted vegetables from your deli.
- Be sure to feature American Lamb Racks because they have more meat on the bone than imported lamb which means more value for your customers!
- Recipes and preparation instructions reduce customer uncertainty and drives sales. Display attractive recipe cards for creating tantalizing rack of lamb dishes at your meat counter or near your American Lamb display. Offering recipes and tasty tidbits will help your customers really get their holidays cooking.
- Create signs or brochures to share these rack tips with your customers to create pitch perfect meals:
- A rack of lamb can be cut into single or double chops and grilled or roasted. The entire rack can also be roasted whole and carved into individual chops for serving.
- For a holiday party, cook two rack roasts at the same time; they will fit side by side in most roasting pans and two racks will feed 8 people.
- A rack of lamb typically has 8 rib bones or 8 chops. Plan to serve 2 chops per person.
- If you are roasting a whole rack, be sure to sear it first on both sides and then roast in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes.
Loin Chops – Quick and Easy Alternative
Loin chops give your customers looking for an impressive holiday meal a great alternative to porterhouse and T-bone steaks. The most tender lamb chops, loin chops are best served broiled or grilled for a quick and easy crowd pleaser.
Stew Meat and Shanks -Slow and Low No Fuss Braising
During the holidays your customers are busier than ever! This is the perfect time to suggest low maintenance, cost conscious cuts such as tender, fall of the bone shanks and flavorful stew meat for delicious no fuss classic comfort meals to warm up a chilly winter’s eve. Nothing could be easier or more satisfying than classic comfort foods like American Lamb Stew with Mashed Potato Crust or Chilly Winter’s Eve Lamb Shank Supper. While shoulder stew meat and shanks need to be braised or cooked low and slow, they take very little preparation time, allowing your customers to spend time with guests or catch up on holiday cards or wrapping.