Passage 3
When it recently acquired former rival Holly Farms, Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, Inc. became the largest producer and marketer of pre-cooked chicken products in the United States. Before buying Holly Farms, Tyson's chicken production was strained as it attempted to keep up with the demands of its booming food-service business and the public's increasing preference for chicken. However, in addition to gaining Holly Farms 'pre-cooked chicken operation, Tyson has also inherited some of the same problems Holly Farms had with this type of product.
Over the last few years, as more health-conscious consumers sought diets lower in calories and cholesterol, the demand for chicken steadily rose. Because of this , and the growing demand for food that could be easily and quickly prepared at home, Holly Farms executives believed that their line of pre-cooked chicken products would be a great success. They did not anticipate the extensive distribution problems they would encounter. They also underestimated the high costs and waste invoIved with selling prepared foods.
The highest costs associated with pre-cooked chicken are distribution costs. One supermarket analyst refers to the distribution of fresh foods as a distribution "nightmare. "He contends that there is no way that fresh food producers can adequately support their products at the retail level.
Perishable prepared foods are expensive to produce (labor costs are tremendous), relatively expensive for the consumers to buy, and subject to spoilage loss. The biggest problem with pre-cooked chicken is its short shelf life. Grocery retailers are accustomed to ordering food products long in advance, warehousing the products, and then placing them on shelves as shelf-space availability dictates. Grocers who did not make proper adjustments when handling Holly Farms products began to lose much of the chicken to spoilage because it was stored too long in warehouses. So even though consumers seemed to like the products, quite a lot of supermarkets began to discontinue carrying them.
Holly Farms was trying to sell a popular consumer item that many supermarkets did not like. Also , since many supermarket chains are experimenting with their own versions of prepared chicken, some are not anxious to cooperate with Tyson in ironing out the distribution problems.
Tyson will need extensive interaction with retailers in order for its pre-cooked chicken line to be successful. Tyson may need to explore more advanced cooking technology that will enable its chicken products to have longer shelf lives. Tyson officials may have to rethink the entire distribution process set up by Holly Farms.
What do Para. 3 & 4 mainly talk about?
A、The cost of carrying pre-cooked chicken.
B、The short shelf life of pre-cooked chicken.
C、The problems associated with carrying perishable prepared foods.
D、The reasons why some supermarkets stopped carrying pre-cooked chicken.
【正确答案】：C
【名师解析】:第3段和第4段主要讨论了与销售易腐熟食相关的一系列问题。这些包括生产成本高（劳动力成本巨大）、消费者购买成本相对较高以及容易变质损失。特别是，预煮鸡肉的短暂保质期是一个重大问题。超市零售商习惯于提前很长时间订购食品产品，将产品储存起来，然后根据货架空间的可用性将它们摆放在货架上。由于没有适当调整处理Holly Farms产品的方式，一些杂货商开始因鸡肉在仓库中存放时间过长而损失大量鸡肉。因此，尽管消费者似乎喜欢这些产品，但许多超市开始停止销售它们。Holly Farms试图销售一种受欢迎的消费品，但许多超市并不喜欢。此外，由于许多超市连锁店正在尝试他们自己的熟食鸡肉版本，一些超市并不急于与Tyson合作解决分销问题。因此，正确答案是C，即与销售易腐熟食相关的问题。
