632592 Mon Jun 29 12:31:14 -0700 2009 32 32 Chains 0 4815564 I recently visited the Stonecrest Harris Teeter in Charlotte and was shocked to see red, black & yellow balloons everywhere and people in black aprons scurrying about. A large sign hung over the deli counter announcing their switch to Boar's Head meats & cheeses. I didn't think much about it, after all I'm not a loyal Dietz & Watson customer. I walked up to the counter and ordered some sliced Virginia ham and some Lebanon bologna. It's then that I noticed that the employee pulled out of the glass cabinet Boar's Head Lebanon bologna!!!! I said, oh no, I'd like the Seltzer's Lebanon bologna. He apologized and said that they no longer carried that brand. "WHAT?" I scanned the cabinet and sure enough all specialty brands were gone and the only choice was no choice at all. Boar's Head or nothing. I went back today and spoke w/ the department manager who advised that all HT's would eventually be making the switch to strictly Boar's Head meats & cheeses and HT signed a contract that they would not carry and other brands. This is awful. :( Mon Jun 29 12:31:14 -0700 2009 71241 lynnlato 1 4815603 Is Seltzer's a premium meats provision company? Generally speaking, Boar's Head brand provisions are considered top dog in the Northeast and it's not unusual for their cold cuts to be priced at $9.99 or higher.....crazy if you ask me. I would however be annoyed and disappointed if my local store completely discontinued any quality brand of meat and cheese provisions, normally priced much cheaper, in favor a any brand that was more expensive and rarely would go on sale at more attractive prices. Mon Jun 29 12:45:02 -0700 2009 4815564 123497 fourunder 2 4815917 Seltzer's Lebanon bologna is considered to be THE brand in Pennsylvania, which, of course, is the heart of Lebanon bologna country. In Pennsylania, you can get it sweet or regular, but I have never seen sweet Lebanon bologna outside of that state. Whenever I am in PA, I always get a couple of pounds of Seltzer's sweet Lebanon bologna and half of it disappears before the car hits the North Carolina state line. A regional treat is to spread some cream cheese on it and roll it up. Mon Jun 29 14:14:39 -0700 2009 4815603 10395 brentk 3 4816285 Brentk, you are SO speaking my language. You're right, I haven't found sweet outside of PA. Just as you had mentioned though, as soon as I left Bi-LO with my lb. of Lebanon bologna I was driving down Rea Rd eating a folded up piece of bologna. We always referred to the sweet Lebanon bologna as summer bologna (or summer sausage). The point had little to do with premium meats, but rather specialty meats & cheeses. In other words, Seltzer's is the preferred brand for Lebanon bologna, but isn't a high end purchase. Does that make sense? Mon Jun 29 16:33:30 -0700 2009 4815917 71241 lynnlato 1 4815612 Lynn, have you ever tried anything from Boar's Head? i don't have a point for comparison because i've never had D&W, but BH is quality product. they don't add any nasty fillers or unnecessary artificial crap to their meats & cheeses, and they have a really good variety of products. BTW, when you say they "switched," does that mean they never carried BH at your store before now? because years ago when i was living in ATL, my local Harris Teeter carried the full BH line at the deli counter. Mon Jun 29 12:47:38 -0700 2009 4815564 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 4816295 Yes, I've tried their VA ham recently, and its fine. My point was that they ONLY carry BH now (at least at my store... and soon to be all stores). The BH Lebanon bologna was beyond gross. Yea, I've never seen BH at any of the Charlotte area HT's. So, around these parts its new, as far as I know. But I don't have a problem with BH. But to eliminate all other brands for BH disturbs me. I want imported prosciutto, Seltzer's Lebanon bologna, Alpine Lace Swiss, etc. Mon Jun 29 16:36:44 -0700 2009 4815612 71241 lynnlato 1 4815649 Boar's Head has great PR. It amazes me when I see restaurants advertising the stuff. It's fair. I'll eat some of it if I have to, but it doesn't compare to the brands you can get at Whole Foods. A few of their products are nitrite- free, but most of them do contain nitrites. Lack of choice sucks, i feel for you. There was an aritcle in WSJ last week saying we can expect fewer product choices as stores try to maintain some profit during the downturn. Mon Jun 29 12:59:20 -0700 2009 4815564 10471 danna 2 4815902 Boar's Head does have several varieties of nitrate- and nitrite-free turkey, chicken, ham and roast beef. it just depends on which ones a particular store carries. i personally think it's the best store-bought alternative to Applegate Farms products, which can be difficult to find outside of WFM & health food stores. but that's just MHO. Mon Jun 29 14:09:21 -0700 2009 4815649 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 4816296 You said it well, danna, "lack of choice sucks". Amen. Mon Jun 29 16:37:25 -0700 2009 4815649 71241 lynnlato 1 4815689 Well, I for one am happy to see the change. I've gotten some pretty unpleasant stuff from all my local HT's and am looking forward to the Boar's Head upgrade. Even my 7-year-old complained about the mushy turkey at HT this past weekend. And the Muenster cheese they've been carrying has been just about the nastiest tasting sliced cheese I've ever had. There seems to be some kind of anti-Boar's Head backlash on CH. Fine with me if you think it's cool to snub Boar's Head. It beats the tar out of D&W and Thumman's and I sure don't want to hear anyone calling me crazy for paying Boar's Head prices when they're buying at Whole Paychecks, for Pete's sake. Way to go, HT! Mon Jun 29 13:09:27 -0700 2009 4815564 25244 rockycat 2 4816302 I have no problem with BH. I don't care that they switched from D&W to BH. My complaint is that they contracted w/ BH to not carry any other brands also. No imported prosciutto, no Alpine Lace Swiss, no Lebanon bolgna from Lebanon PA. As danna put it: no choice. Mon Jun 29 16:39:09 -0700 2009 4815689 71241 lynnlato 2 4816307 Word, word, word. Couldn't agree more, rockycat. I shop at HT every so often, but generally avoided it because their cold cuts sucked. The D&W was worse than Oscar Meyer. My hub will only eat Boar's Head, so thankfully we've had another grocery that stocks it, but it's always good to have HT as an option. I also have to agree that no one shopping at Whole Foods can really have much of a leg to stand on when complaining about the prices of Boar's Head. Good grief. Mon Jun 29 16:39:59 -0700 2009 4815689 67610 Suzy Q 3 4816316 Their Seltzer's Lebanon bolgna was AWESOME. LOL Mon Jun 29 16:42:22 -0700 2009 4816307 71241 lynnlato 4 4816322 Sounds like I've missed out on something good! I didn't even know what Lebanon bologna was until reading this thread. We didn't get much of that growing up in Charleston - I think "gourmet" was Oscar Meyer instead of the store brand when I was a kid. Mon Jun 29 16:44:30 -0700 2009 4816316 67610 Suzy Q 5 4816493 Ha! Lebanon bologna is to PA folks what livermush is to NC folks. Kind of like scrapple vs. country sausage too. :) I don't know that you've missed on on anything extra special. It's just a thing I thought was great from back home. I'm just whining. I thought it was great that Lebanon bologna was easy to come by in these parts - and now my regular grocer doesn't carry it (I wish we had a Whole Foods). Mon Jun 29 17:50:48 -0700 2009 4816322 71241 lynnlato 3 4817293 where do you and Rockycat see someone shopping at WF and complaining about Boar's Head prices? Tue Jun 30 05:06:16 -0700 2009 4816307 10471 danna 1 4815796 Boar's Head has ONE thing that I like and that's their oven roasted chicken. The rest of it you can have. The majority of PUBLIX in FLA have switched to all Boar's Head products. Lynn, do you have an INGLE'S in Charlotte? Mon Jun 29 13:38:22 -0700 2009 4815564 167584 thefluffyturtle 2 4816306 No Ingle's, fluffyturtle (nice name, btw). What's Ingle's? Mon Jun 29 16:39:52 -0700 2009 4815796 71241 lynnlato 1 4816946 Ingle's is a grocery store (no location in Charlotte, NC). Closest Ingles to Charlotte would be in Albemarle (most are located in the NC mountain region - there is a nice one just down the road from Lake Lure). To the OP - I know it's probably not the same as having it at HT anymore, but you can order directly from Seltzer, (or) they also state that their meats are carried at Food Lion. Mon Jun 29 21:08:44 -0700 2009 4815564 323226 sweettater 2 4817461 Thanks, sweettater. They also have it at Bi-Lo, which is where I got it yesterday. Tue Jun 30 06:27:59 -0700 2009 4816946 71241 lynnlato 3 4817496 You haven't seen sweet Lebanon bologna anywhere in NC, have you? Tue Jun 30 06:41:01 -0700 2009 4817461 10395 brentk 4 4817760 Southern Season in Chapel Hill usually has both the sweet and vinegar versions of Seltzer's lebanon bologna. They gave me the sweet version by mistake one time and I didn't care for it-- but the vinegar version, yum! Tue Jun 30 08:11:01 -0700 2009 4817496 21285 bbqme 5 4817951 Good to know. At least you can have choice in Chapel Hill. I have never heard of the regular Lebanon bologna referred to as "vinegar." Is that what they call it at Southern Season. Sounds like a North Carolina colloquialism. In fact a quick peek at Seltzer's website shows that they actually have seven varieties. Who knew? Tue Jun 30 09:02:10 -0700 2009 4817760 10395 brentk 6 4818535 I haven't seen the sweet anywhere around CLT. I never heard of the vinegar description either. Hmmmm. Seven varieties? Wow, I had no idea. Tue Jun 30 11:48:24 -0700 2009 4817951 71241 lynnlato 1 4818188 I don't see where the "choice" has disappeared. As a shopper, you have the choice to shop at any grocery store you like. If you don't like what HT carries, shop elsewhere. Unless, of course, you're unfortunate enough to live in a part of NC that only has Food Lion. In that case, I feel your pain. HT has a choice also, especially in this economy. They can either make a profit or they can go out of business. In good times, supermarkets usually work on a 1 or 2% margin. Now that things are tougher and stores are forced to offer triple coupons and super doubles and all kinds of promotions that come out of their pockets, not the manufacturers', any little edge they can get is needed. If Boar's Head made them that good an offer, then HT made a good business decision. So just why is there no choice here? Tue Jun 30 10:10:37 -0700 2009 4815564 25244 rockycat 2 4818442 Gee... this seems to have touched a nerve, or three! I'm in agreement with RockyCat... from the earlier post, that I see this as a positive development. I am in a unique situation where the three closest grocery stores to my home are all Harris Teeters. To go elsewhere is inconvenient. It's a good thing I actually like Harris Teeter. Boar's Head has been my preferred brand for years... although I don't hold a grudge against Dietz & Watson. I do kind of feel it's anti-competitive for BH to lock out other brands, but it is called "free enterprise." If I didn't like the new arrangement, I wouldn't blame BH for proposing the terms, I would be mad at HT for agreeing to them. Tue Jun 30 11:20:34 -0700 2009 4818188 287602 DigitalVelvet 2 4818568 I perceive it as a lack of choice. I am surrounded by HT who, for the most part, monopolize the market around my area of town. Now that they carry only one brand, when they previously carried many different brands, I have no choice when I shop at HT. That, my friend, is what I am talking about. Capisci? Tue Jun 30 11:56:53 -0700 2009 4818188 71241 lynnlato 3 4818830 I live in Virginia and have a HT, Farm Fresh & Bloom as our local grocers. I haven't been to HT since they changed brands. However, our Farm Fresh has always carried Boars Head and stocks a few other brands as well. It is still 90% BH compared to the other choices though. Tue Jun 30 13:07:23 -0700 2009 4818568 78046 cameronTea 3 4820033 Having been in the deli busines for 25yrs or so and working mostly in the ny market selling BH, what HT is doing is wrong if they are locking out other companies from selling in the deli dept.Their ideology is being the best and having the customer pay the price. Even in ny we sold a # 2 ham or turkey because not everyone can afford BH. They do a great PR job the best in the industry but the consumer pays. They do make a great product. Although some might still have MSG! Tue Jun 30 20:15:06 -0700 2009 4819711 154260 deliman 1 4827837 ****UPDATE**** I had emailed Harris Teeter last week and voiced my disappointment. I didn't ask for anything, just wanted to let them know that I thought they should carry a few specialty brands in addition to the Boars Head. I received a response from them today advising that they notified the fresh foods manager at my local HT to order a case of the Selzers Lebanon Bologna and they will keep it on hand for me. They won't display it or advertise it, but I should tell the deli employee that it is in the back and they will retrieve it and slice it to order. Fri Jul 03 14:09:14 -0700 2009 4815564 71241 lynnlato 2 4828228 now THAT'S what i call good customer service! glad it worked out for you. BTW, when i stopped at a local A&P yesterday and wandered past the deli counter i noticed that BH was the *only* brand they had - it made me think of you, and this thread. Fri Jul 03 18:06:01 -0700 2009 4827837 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 4828371 That's awesome. Would you believe I can get Selzer's Lebanon bologna here in Phoenix? It's the only brand I would buy too. The other brands I've tried are just gross. I can only find it prepackaged at Fry's (Kroger) stores - and not all of them at that - but it is a favorite of ours. I would call it high-end for our neck of the desert though. Probably shipping costs. It's like $8 or $9 a pound here. Fri Jul 03 19:47:30 -0700 2009 4827837 173425 Jen76 3 4830075 Yes, they certainly are good listeners at HT! GHG, I cannot believe they still have A&P's! Wow, talk about a blast from the past. Seltzers in Phoenix? Get out of town!? That rocks! Sat Jul 04 17:49:56 -0700 2009 4828371 71241 lynnlato