Meat specialist vs meat department associate

The differences between meat specialists and meat department associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a meat specialist and a meat department associate. Additionally, a meat specialist has an average salary of $30,640, which is higher than the $26,955 average annual salary of a meat department associate.

The top three skills for a meat specialist include food safety, customer satisfaction and fresh meat. The most important skills for a meat department associate are food handling, customer service, and grinders.

Meat specialist vs meat department associate overview

	Meat Specialist	Meat Department Associate
Yearly salary	$30,640	$26,955
Hourly rate	$14.73	$12.96
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	7,838	52,410
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 33%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

Meat specialist vs meat department associate salary

Meat specialists and meat department associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Meat Specialist	Meat Department Associate
Average salary	$30,640	$26,955
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $40,000	Between $13,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	-	Leesburg, VA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Linklaters
Best paying industry	-	Retail

Differences between meat specialist and meat department associate education

There are a few differences between a meat specialist and a meat department associate in terms of educational background:

	Meat Specialist	Meat Department Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Meat specialist vs meat department associate demographics

Here are the differences between meat specialists' and meat department associates' demographics:

	Meat Specialist	Meat Department Associate
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 84.1% Female, 15.9%	Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.7% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	3%	3%

Differences between meat specialist and meat department associate duties and responsibilities

Meat specialist example responsibilities.

Break down and clean industrial grinders and saws.
Collaborate with management to help maintain inventory levels.
Maintain meat grinding logs via Kroger computer system.

Meat department associate example responsibilities.

Placed/Fil orders, maintain inventory, and manage department cleanliness.
Stock meat counter, dairy and frozen foods as well as general groceries.
Maintain, clean and sterilize, tables, deli slicers, and cutting equipment daily.
Clear shopping carts from lot, bag groceries for customers and help customers load groceries into vehicle.
Maintain and clean the meat dept, including saws, grinders, refrigerator, freezer and various other tools and equipment.
Used all equipment in meat department such as the refrigerators, freezers, slicers, and ovens according to company guidelines.

Meat specialist vs meat department associate skills

Common meat specialist skills

Food Safety, 34%
Customer Satisfaction, 30%
Fresh Meat, 26%
Grinders, 3%
Seafood Products, 2%
Quality Customer Service, 2%

Common meat department associate skills

Food Handling, 20%
Customer Service, 11%
Grinders, 10%
Fresh Product, 8%
Food Safety, 7%
Fresh Meat, 6%

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Meat Specialist vs Meat Department Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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