THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230076
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: 99 lines
There haven't been many changes at V.W. Joyner & Co. since 1889, when the company began making its famous dry-cured hams in a smokehouse off old Main Street.
The blackened walls are as old as the building. And workers still salt, smoke and age hams in a centuries-old process that can take as long as 180 days.
``I kid people that the only thing we've done to modernize this place is put in an elevator,'' said Larry Santure, Joyner vice president.
While Joyner hasn't tampered with those traditions, it has been forced to adapt to a new breed of health-conscious and time-starved consumers. Those customers have been demanding less salt, more low-fat foods and more ready-to-eat products.
``People don't have enough time to take a big ham . . . soak it, scrub it and cook it,'' Santure said. ``They want products that they can readily consume.''
V.W. Joyner - famous for its Red Eye country hams and Joyner Smithfield hams - has responded to those demands. Shoppers can buy pre-cooked hams, saving hours in the kitchen. Or, they can opt for pre-sliced country ham without the bones, skin or fat - a much leaner product.
Later this year, the company's lower-salt Red Eye hams will begin showing up in grocery stores.
It doesn't end there.
Joyner recently began marketing tiny packets of sliced deli ham, mostly to retailers who don't slice their own meats. The goal is to attract single people who don't consume large packages of meat.
``We have to because, in today's environment and culture, our living patterns are changing,'' Santure said. ``How many households do you know where one spouse stays at home all day?''
Testing new ideas is simple at Joyner. There's limited red tape from the higher-ups at parent company Smithfield Companies Inc., which gives Joyner officials leeway to experiment with new products.
For example, Santure had an inkling that Virginians, who have downed millions of pounds of Joyner hams, might dare to try a mixture of tiny chunks of ham in cream cheese.
He had seen recipes for cheese balls in cookbooks that included cream cheese and ham. But he figured he could make a cheese ball of his own - a much better cheese ball - and with his own Red Eye country ham.
Across the street, in the kitchen of Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Cafe, Santure and store owner Carolyn Burke whipped up the spread. This summer, Joyner will sell its cream cheese and ham spreads to Ukrop Super Markets Inc. in Richmond, as well as Norfolk-based Farm Fresh Inc. and the Virginia Ham Shop in Norfolk.
While changes like these may continue to keep Joyner profitable, company officials acknowledge that the future of the cured ham market is not rosy.
Over the years, Joyner and its parent company, Portsmouth-based Smithfield Companies, have noticed small but gradual declines in sales of raw cured hams throughout the industry.
Those old enough to remember the tradition of cured hams still adore them. But younger Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have been leaving them on the supermarket shelves.
``Overall, the cured ham business is declining,'' said Mark D. Bedard, chief financial officer of Smithfield Companies. ``We've been able to increase sales ourselves, possibly because of other companies getting out of the business. But in the long run, there is going to be a decline.''
The Smithfield ham, which is the saltiest of Joyner's products, has been particularly affected. The famous Virginia ham must be made within the town limits, have a long-shank shape and be aged 180 days. But because it's aged longer, the ham loses more water, which produced a strong, salty flavor.
Four companies make the Smithfield ham. They include Joyner and The Smithfield Ham and Products Co. - both subsidiaries of Smithfield Companies. The other two companies are Smithfield Packing Co. Inc. and Gwaltney of Smithfield - both owned by Smithfield Foods.
``We've come to the understanding,'' said Bedard. ``We know what our market is. . . . We know that we've got limited growth potential (in the cured ham business).''
Despite these trends, Joyner has been profitable since it was purchased by Smithfield Companies in 1983. Santure says Joyner's aggressive marketing and product changes have helped make up the difference. Plus, he says, the company's cured hams are still overwhelmingly popular throughout the Southeast.
And consumers who remember the tradition of serving Joyner's hams are quick to demand them from local grocers. Just ask Hannaford Brothers Co., a Maine-based company that recently moved into the Southeast.
When Hannaford opened its first store in Virginia Beach, it had just about every type of ham. What the northern chain didn't have was Joyner's line of Red Eye country hams - an omission that had customers rebelling at the deli counter.
Hannaford quickly fixed the problem, said Kevin Cyr, deli manager at Hannaford Brothers Co. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by JIM WALKER, The Virginian-Pilot
Joyner vice president Larry Santure walks through one of the
company's smokehouses in Smithfield while workers turn and resalt
hams, below. "I kid people that the only thing we've done to
modernize this place is put in an elevator," Santure said.
Photo by JIM WALKER, The Virginian-Pilot
At V.W. Joyner & Co. of Main Street in Smithfield, the company makes
its dry-cured hams almost the same as it did in 1889. by CNB