Sort & Cull

Between all the hamburgers, hot dogs and fireworks this past weekend, the 85th anniversary of sliced bread's marketing debut may have slipped your notice. Uncle Sam can be such a jealous showboat when it comes to his birthday.

Go figure.

Yet anyone in the livestock feeding audience that senses a debt of gratitude to the phenomena of fast food should save a sparkler to two to honor two particular visionaries who dared to think outside the bread box.

On July 7, 1928, Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a jeweler from Davenport, Iowa, and Frank Bench, a baker from Chillicothe, Mo., made history by selling sliced bread for the first time.

Rohwedder had invented a bread slicer years before, but could find no commercial baker brave enough to use it. Most scoffed, and told him that pre-sliced bread would get stale and dry long before it could be eaten.

But when he finally proposed a workable solution to Bench -- wrapping the bread in waxed paper after it was sliced -- a trial balloon was eventually launched that literally changed the way the world ate.

Indeed, this moment of fundamental improvement became so iconic that every subsequent good idea that followed was heralded as "the best idea since sliced bread."

If you were to start a "Convenience Hall of Fame," I think sliced bread might be one of the first nominees. And one could think of many other contenders in the meat industry that were inspired in its wake.

While you can always find snooty gourmands who scowl at the quality of the American diet, I defy anyone to find a nation who eats faster without breaking a busy stride. That world-class standard of digestion-on-the-go has dictated the constant development of new fast food products.

For a fascinating look at the latest iteration in this regard, read Susan Berfield's article entitled "Why McWrap Is So Important to McDonald's" (www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-03/why-the-mcwrap-is-so-important-to-mcdonalds).

Berfield's tells an engaging story of how McDonald's took years to perfect the ideal choice of ease, taste, and convenience for so-called millennials -- must-have consumers between the ages of 18 and 32.

The team of developers knew the new product had to be tailor-made for this critical test group in every way: the right taste, the "fresh" look, the good feel in the hand, the no-brainer price, and the exact size to fit into your car's cup-holder.

The jury remains out on the success of the McWrap. But if it fails, no one can blame a lack of planning and experimenting.

But since the McWrap represents yet another chicken entrée in McDonald's increasingly chicken-heavy menu, red meat producers are left hoping that whatever happens, the heirs of Rohwedder and Bench can stayed inspired enough to keep reinventing offerings of beef and pork.

http://www.feelofthemarket.com/…

(AG)

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