-By Meg Major

Although it’s still too soon to tell what teams will meet up in Miami for the 44th Super Bowl game on Feb. 7, 2010, the countdown is officially on for grocers to finalize their game plans for one of the most anticipated selling events of the calendar year. As the perfect way to dispel the post-New Year doldrums, Super Bowl parties have evolved from simple snack-and-beverage spreads into far more sophisticated feasts, and are often more memorable than the game itself.

Indeed, based on recent-year game-day sales trends, retailers have been making big gains in the fresh food departments with prepared deli party trays, bakery items like cakes and cookies, and, of course, plenty of prepared foods, appetizers, dips and salty snacks, the last of which capture the highest amount of sales throughout the entire year, followed by the day before the big game, according to Nielsen research.

To balance the rush of salty snacks, most retailers have fine-tuned their Super Bowl promotional playbooks with an increasing emphasis on fresh produce items, high-margin center-of-the-plate proteins and a popular game-day favorite, chicken wings. Last year, the Washington-based National Chicken Council tracked more than 450 million finger-lickin' wings, or 90 million pounds, making the rounds on Super Bowl weekend, which marks peak demand period for the once-lowly wing and which, at presstime, was already commanding a premium over the perennially top-ranked skinless boneless breasts.

Bad to the Bone

A textbook example of the law of supply and demand, the much-admired chicken wing (and companion drumstick) has become standard football season fare. And nowhere is this assertion more evident than at Philadelphia's annual Wing Bowl, a gut-busting amateur wing-off that draws some 20,000 spectators to the Wachovia Center in the early-morning hours on the Friday before the Super Bowl.

Since the item has by now emerged as an event-worthy food, it comes as little surprise that for seven of the last 11 months, wholesale prices for chicken wings have eclipsed prices for chicken breasts, flip-flopping the pecking order in a market where the latter have heretofore reigned supreme. In September, the average wholesale price for whole chicken wings in the Northeast was $1.48 a pound, according to the USDA, while skinless boneless breasts were pegged at roughly $1.20 a pound. What's more, retailers can expect to see wing prices climb even higher between now and the big game day, after which time prices should stabilize.

In a price and feature analysis of circulars from nearly 18,000 stores in six regions of the continental United States last year, the USDA's Poultry Market News & Analysis Branch — which has been tracking promotional activity for chicken in U.S. supermarkets during peak Super Bowl demand period since 2006 — found nearly 96 percent of sampled stores featuring some form of chicken, nearly 81 percent of which directly associated chicken with their Super Bowl promotions.

Prepared wings were the most actively featured chicken item in the country, with nearly one-fourth of  activity concentrated in the Northeast. The central United States, however, prefers fried chicken and once more led the nation in supermarket feature activity.

Taking full advantage of the Super Bowl's clout with party-planning shoppers, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spartan Stores last year employed the weekend before the big game to add a new dimension to its corporate-brand playbook with an all-natural, hormone- and artificial-ingredient-free signature chicken line. Encompassing 21 varieties of breasts, tenders, drumsticks, wings and multiple family packs, the line offers a healthier option at a lower price.

"We know that cost impacts customers' protein purchasing decisions, and chicken continues to be one of the most economical choices for their protein dollar," according to Spartan's EVP of merchandising, Alan Hartline. "What makes our Spartan brand so attractive is not only its value, but its 100 percent all-natural" attributes, which not only help make larger gatherings fun and festive, but also financially feasible.

Beefing up the Lineup

In much the same way that football players rely on multiple layers of protective padding to ward off injury and keep them in the game, savvy grocers are also priming the pump with high-quality beef features to further the momentum of smokin' summertime sales.

Despite a lingering difficult economic backdrop, Certified Angus Beef (CAB) says it set repeat records in July and August for the most sold in a single month since the inception of the program in 1978. Licensed restaurants and retailers marketed 60 million pounds in July, and then bested the monthly high mark by another 2 million pounds in August.

Clint Walenciak, director of packing for the Wooster, Ohio-based beef brand, credits the gains to CAB's longtime partners that have stepped up their efforts to push higher-quality beef, one of which is 120-store, Schenectady, N.Y.-based Price Chopper, whose summertime steak sales were simply "terrific," in the words of its VP of meat merchandising, Larry Ritzert. "The conventional wisdom would be that things are tough so people are going to move down from middle meats to a tougher steak or to burgers." Instead, he adds, "We’re seeing an influx of people buying steaks. It's the people who want to have a good eating experience — if they're spending money, they want to enjoy it."

In response, the regional retailer has run more weekly features on beef, prices of which have been comparably lower than last year’s averages, although still relatively similar. "If steaks last year were $5.99 and they're $4.99 this year, the same is true for other cuts and quality grades," says Ritzert. "They could eat cheaper if they wanted to, but they're choosing those higher-quality steaks." In turn, he notes, Price Chopper is offering many different-sized packages and thicknesses of cuts in a well-stocked large display. "Folks have responded very well to it," he says.

Other beef suppliers are getting into the game with premium-positioned programs that can help position retailers above their competition and capture big rings at the register, not only during special-occasion sales events, but also all year round, notes Randy Orton, SVP of sales and marketing for Meyer Natural Angus.

"Super Bowl parties are getting bigger and better each year," says Orton. "But regardless of which teams are playing, party hosts want to impress their guests with an extraordinary spread of entrees and appetizers," which, he quips, are "more important than the final score. Our retail customers are meeting the growing consumer need of offering shoppers premium natural beef products like short ribs and steaks," which Orton says "are sure to please the fans at any party. While no one can control the outcome of the game," he continues, "anyone can score a touchdown with delicious restaurant-quality steaks."

While premium proteins promise to factor heavily in game-day menus, stalwart value items like brats, sausages and hot dogs with regional flair are certain to score big for retailers' Super Bowl promotional plans as well.

Having recently launched a major media campaign celebrating its legacy as the "official hot dog" at most major sports venues in Southern California, including Dodger Stadium — home of the famed Dodger Dogs — Hormel Foods' Los Angeles-based Farmer John brand is also planning to reach out to pre-Super Bowl grocery shoppers with a variety of tactics such as in-store promotions, shelf talkers and coupon dispensers, reports Jeff Frank, VP of retail marketing.

Farmer John recently wrapped an autumn media campaign, which aired locally in Southern California through November, used a mix of humor and nostalgia to focus on how gratifying it is to devour a hot dog — or three — with a cold drink, while simultaneously encouraging viewers to re-create the unforgettable game-day ritual at home with its products.

"People are spending more time at home with friends and family, and the campaign aligns the core values of our brand with current consumer needs," explains Frank, noting an October sweepstakes with the Kroger Co.'s Los Angeles-based Ralphs division that gave shoppers a chance to win tickets to crosstown rival football games and an exclusive tailgate party hosted by a Fox Sports West personality.