Paul Kastner has fond memories as a child of watching his father picking out steaks from a side of beef hangingat a St. Louis butcher shop near their house.
After the now 73-year-old had retired to Naples, he continued the process for selecting meats. He shopped with great pleasure at the local Publix custom meat counter. His favorite cuts were New York strips and Ribeyes.
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But one day about a year ago, he went to his favorite Publix supermarket only to learn the custom meat counter was gone.
“It was there one day and gone the next,” Kastner said by phone on Monday. “In my area, they’re closing all their full-service meat counters."
While Publix currently also offers the option of ordering ahead so customers can request a custom cut of meat or special grind of meat, select a prewrapped cut of meat or a grab-and-go meal containing steak, chicken or seafood for busy shoppers, some customers like Kastner are wondering if the traditional meat counters are becoming a thing of the past.
Kastner said he wrote a letter to Publix and asking why they’re taking the meat counters out and they told him customers todayprefer pre-cut meat or packaged take-home meals over buying larger portions of meat, storing them at home and carving them up as needed. Also, where meat counters used to be, grab-and-go packaged meats with side dishes such as potatoes and other vegetables are taking their place, Kastner said of his correspondence with Publix.
Hannah Herring, media relations manager, for Central Florida, did not respond to an email questioning whether the meat counters were going away.
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A Ledger reporter visited three stores around the Orlando suburbs and confirmed that none of the stores had a custom meat counter.
By phone Tuesday, a Lake Mary meat department employee at Publix confirmed that the high-volume store along Lake Mary Boulevard got rid of its meat case. For about a year now, the supermarket has been offering pre-prepared meat-based meals, wrapped cuts of meats or call ahead orders for custom cuts.
It is unclear how many custom meat counters at Publix have closed versus those that are still open.
Meanwhile, the meat counter was still operating according to a person who answered the phone at Lakeland’s Lake Gibson Publix store.
According to the Publix website under the heading of “Fresh, flavorful meat,” it says, “Cut just the way you like it. Thick steaks, ground beef, cuts of pork, group-raised veal, racks of lamb, plump chickens and turkeys, and more. We offer them fresh in our stores, every day.”
The Publix website also says, “In a hurry? Don't forget the display case. It's constantly being replenished with fresh cuts we've neatly packaged and labeled for your convenience, as well as delicious ready-to-cook means like stuffed pork chops and flank steaks.”
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On its jobs website pages, Publix lists openings for its retail meat departments - offering two meat department jobs; one for a meat and seafood clerk, and a job for a meat department apprentice, who would learn to cut meat as well as operate and maintain equipment and coolers.
The meat department wages are at the top level of hourly wages in the store. According to Glassdoor.com, the estimated total pay for a meat cutter at Publix is $20 per hour, but hourly wages can go as high as $23 per hour.
Not all customers noticed the change at Publix nor were they worried about it.
Gale Lee of Chuluota said she won't buy the prepared meals because she likes to cook at home. She has always bought wrapped cuts of meat and prefers to buy what's on sale.
"I usually go in and if they have it cut, I go in and get it," she said, adding she has noticed more prepared meals in the meat department. "Most parents work now; they don't have time."
At the Florida Cattlemen’s Association, its executive vice president Jim Handley is familiar with the supermarkets’ decision-making process to devote staff and resources toward a custom meat cutting counter.
“Frankly I do not think this is a new trend,” Handley said. "Most of the meat departments maintain a line of standard SKUs (standard products) with the highest volume of products being kept on hand in portion size that fits their individual area and clientele.”
“Some have found it to be profitable to maintain a strong custom cutting person on staff and react and cut to order like is done in small butcher shops,” Handley added. “In this case the buyer pays a premium for this personalized service.”
Paul Nutcher can be reached at pnutcher@gannett.com.
