The success of a new marketing campaign aimed at increasing awareness of a new type of lamb steak has area grocery stores counting sheep.

Since the beginning of May, Associated Food Stores and Harmons grocery stores have sold nearly 270 cases of Kings Peak Lamb Medallions, a Utah-grown lamb product made from reconstituted cuts of breast and shoulder meat. That amounts to 5,400, 4-ounce lamb "steaks."

The demand for the medallions, developed by Utah State University and the Utah Wool Growers Association, stems from a marketing campaign by AgriSolutions LLC, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"The guys in the meat departments say [the medallions] took a category that was dead and brought life back to [it]," said Steve Reich, marketing vice president at Associated Foods.

Lamb has always been a tough sell in the United States. Consumers eat 1.5 pounds of lamb for every 60 pounds of beef or 50 pounds of pork. Jim Ure, a partner in the marketing firm, suggested the new product was developed to help boost that ratio.

"Our goal is to create superior product exclusivity so people will recognize the name and learn that they prefer that cut of meat over others," said Ure.

The campaign has worked so well that Reich said Associated Food Stores plans to continue marketing the medallions on its own after the manufacturer stops marketing them.

In 2003, the medallions scored high in test marketing against canned "heat and eat" lamb products in sauce, Ure said.

Because lamb is usually a more expensive cut of meat, USU meat lab manager Dick Whittier said new products are needed to increase the value of parts of the lamb that would normally be ground or used in less profitable ways.

"I don't think this has changed the [amount of each lamb that is used] at all. It has just reapportioned some of the price that is returned," he said. "We don't throw any meat away here in the United States. All of it is consumed. It's just that it is consumed in different manners and sold at different prices, depending on how it is presented to the consumer."

Sheepherder Clark Willis hasn't seen a jump in demand for his lambs that graze in the Bear Lake area. He suspects any real consumption statistics won't be available until next year. He has, however, noticed an increased number of people who ask about his sheep because they have seen the advertisements on television.

"I go to downtown Logan now and people that know me say, 'We've heard about the lamb, and we've never heard promotions for lamb before,' ” he said. "It has awakened people to the fact that there is lamb here."

jmoon@sltrib.com