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Frankly, It's A Wiener War For Top Hot Dog Makers

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The Associated Press

Published: June 12, 2008

CHICAGO - America's two largest hot dog makers are waging a wiener war as grills fire up this summer, hoping to win customers and secure the No. 1 spot atop the stagnating frank market.

The latest round in the long-running feud comes as Kraft Foods' Oscar Mayer brand gives its signature hot dog a makeover aimed at stealing momentum from Sara Lee's Ball Park Franks.

Kraft hopes its reformulation - its first in 20 years for the all-beef hot dog - and a massive promotional campaign attract new customers and their palates with a zestier, meatier recipe.

Consumers are "continuing to look for higher flavors, beefier, juicier hot dogs, and we saw that as an opportunity to grow that portion of our business," said Sean Marks, senior director of marketing for Oscar Mayer.

Both suburban Chicago food manufacturers claim the designation as the nation's top hot dog brand, based on separate readings of market research and sales data. Experts say the frank fight may become more difficult as the economy sours and hot dog consumption - at least among adults - hits its lowest level since the mid-1980s.

"You can say, at best, long-term, it's flat," said Harry Balzer, a vice president with research firm NPD Group. But "it's still a valuable market."

So valuable that about 956 million packages of hot dogs were sold at U.S. retailers in the past year, according to data from The Nielsen Co. That's on top of the estimated 30 million hot dogs - often regional brands - that major-league baseball fans down each season at the nation's ballparks.

With grocery sales of about $2 billion last year, hot dogs are far from being discounted. According to NPD data, 48 percent of Americans ages 18 and younger will eat at least one hot dog in the next two weeks.

That alone is enough for companies to take notice - particularly Kraft and Sara Lee, which are in the midst of turnaround plans aimed at reviving stalled sales.

Kraft, the world's second-largest food company, also is spending the summer promoting its line of snack-size hot dogs that launched in April by sending its new Mini Weinermobile on a nationwide marketing tour alongside the full-scale model.

Meanwhile, Sara Lee is touting its angus beef franks, turkey franks and whole-grain buns that it announced in May.

Stanton Means, a 48-year-old hot dog afficionado-turned-blogger from Charleston, W.Va., figures he downs nearly a dozen dogs every month while running the Web site WVHotDogs.com.

"In our culture, it's definitely a staple," said Means, who prefers his franks topped with chili, coleslaw, mustard and onions. "I often say that it's an obligatory item for a menu in West Virginia. If you have a restaurant, you have to have a hot dog, even if it's not a hot dog-type restaurant."

But if he's cooking for friends, Means admits that even the finest-grade frank doesn't hold a candle to whatever's on sale.

"We'll probably look at price point more than taste," he said. "If I'm buying wieners just to make hot dogs for a picnic, I'm buying the cheap ones."

That's a sentiment analysts say could be hard for Kraft and Sara Lee to overcome.

"I think that area of the store, nine times out of 10, it usually comes down to price," said Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren. "And with customers strapped right now, that does have an impact."

Both companies declined to release specific information how much they have increased prices to cope with rising commodities costs or how much they are spending to promote their hot dog products.

But Kraft is pricing its revamped Beef Franks at $3.99, about a dime more than previous versions.

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