Pink Slime
Principals of Marketing 15SA_MAR1011

Citations
(Oswask, 2012)
(Armstrong, 2014)

The meat industry saw media sensationalism as a campaign of misinformation to undermine a product used for more than ten years to supplement lean beef supplies used in ground beef. The depiction of LFTB in the media as “pink slime” raised the product’s “yuck” factor and implied that there were food safety issues with LFTB, mainly because ammonium gas is used as an antimicrobial intervention in the production of LFTB. Also, the fact that ground beef purchased for the school lunch program could contain LFTB triggered consumer calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately end the practice. Ground beef is the most popularly consumed beef item among American consumers, and consumers have increasingly demanded lean ground beef. USDA approved the process that Beef Products, Inc. (BPI), the primary producer of LFTB, uses to produce LFTB, and USDA continues to affirm that LFTB is a safe, nutritious beef product. Although LFTB received negative press in previous years, the uproar starting in March 2012 has had greater impacts. USDA changed its policy on school lunches to allow schools to have a choice of whether to buy ground beef with LFTB or not. Major grocery chains announced that they were discontinuing the use of LFTB in retail ground beef. The result has been an immediate, sharp decline in 50% beef trimming prices, and expectations of higher ground beef prices. Some companies decided to voluntarily use LFTB labels on ground beef containing the product. Some food safety advocates who believe BPI was a food safety innovator have expressed concern that the barrage of negative publicity could stifle further innovation by meat companies. The LFTB controversy demonstrates that consumers’ perceptions and understanding of modern food production can quickly affect markets and/or a company’s business. It raises policy issues about how consumers should be informed by either industry or government. Some Members of Congress have expressed strong interest in the LFTB controversy through statements and letters to USDA. Some Members have called for the immediate end of LFTB in the school lunch program, and others have asked that ground beef include labels informing consumers that LFTB is used in a beef product. Legislation also has been introduced that would require LFTB labels.
Another products that are included in customer products that could face a similar fate if consumers were aware of them are Poultry Paste and Tuna Scrape, which ones already counts with bad publicity. The Tuna Scrape it’s considered as the Pink Slime of the Sea.

There are three major types of buying situations. At one extreme is the straight rebuy, which is fairly routine decision. At the other extreme is the new task, which may call for thorough research. In the middle is the modified rebuy, which requires some research. In a straight rebuy, the buyer reorders something without any modification. It is usually handled on a routine basis by the purchasing department. A company buying a product or service for the first tine faces a new-task situation. In such cases, the greater the cost or risk, he larger the number of decision participants and the greater their efforts to collect information will be. The buyer makes the fewest decisions in the straight rebuy and the most in the new-task decision. In the new-task situation, the buyer must decide on product specifications, suppliers, price limits, payments terms, order quantities, delivery times, and service terms In this situation, customers, such as grocery stores, restaurants, and institution food service providers need to find a new supplier of ground beef products, so it is not an entirely new task buying situation and is best described as modify rebuy decision. The business buying process consists of eight stages:
• Problem recognition: recognize a problem or need that can be meeting by acquiring a specific product or service.
• Definition of the characteristics and quantity.
• Development of the specifications.
• Search for and qualification suppliers.
• Proposal quotes solicitation.
• Evaluation of proposals and supplier selection.
• Selection of an order routine.
• Performance evaluation feedback.

Bibliography
Armstrong, P. K. (2014). Principles of Marketing . In P. K. Armstrong, Principles of Marketing (pp. 179-183). New Jersey.
Oswask, M. (2012, May 07). Gizimodo. Retrieved May 16, 2015, from Gizimodo: http://gizmodo.com/5908389/tuna-scrape-the-pulverized-scrap-fish-paste-inside-your-spicy-tuna-roll