Consumers are used to making sandwiches and wraps with Hormel's myriad meats. Now, Hormel is making a wrap for consumers, assembling cheese, deli meat and flatbread into an on-the-go concoction called Rev.
It is one of Hormel Foods' most significant new products in years, an item with few if any direct peers. And Rev is new terrain for the company, a ready-to-eat product in the refrigerated case, a place where Hormel is accustomed to selling cuts of pork and turkey.
"This is one of the biggest product launches in our history," said Holly Drennan, a Hormel senior product manager. "This is a missing product in the grocery store."
Rev, which rolls out nationally this week, comes in eight varieties — Meat Lovers Pizza, Italian Style Ham, Peppered Turkey, to name a few. It's being marketed particularly to teenagers as a snack, but Drennan said it also has a broader appeal.
Whether it flops or flies, Rev is another example of the innovation factory at Austin, Minn.-based Hormel, which has helped the company's stock outperform its peers for much of the last decade.
Hormel makes some of the most basic and ancient — by packaged-food standards — stuff around: Spam and bacon anyone? But it also has a reputation for creating new franchises, such as its Party Trays (meat and cheese appetizer spreads) and its Compleats line of microwaveable meals.
A few years ago, Hormel CEO Jeffrey Ettinger set up a corporate-level innovation team, aimed at coming up with ideas that bridged the company's various food businesses. Rev is the first big idea to emerge from the group. Hormel began shipping the product in May, and Rev will be fully available nationally this week. A major ad campaign is also planned.
The product sells for about $2 and can be found in the supermarket cooler next to Kraft Foods' Lunchables line. However, Lunchables seem aimed squarely at kids, while Rev is primarily targeting teenagers, right down to its sleek packaging and energy-drink-like name.
