The meat sector is the largest branch in the German food economy. It is characterized by a dominance of cost leadership. Against the background of an increasingly ruinous predatory pricing policy, we analyze the potential of brands introduced into new markets by brand extension. Therefore, consumption-psychological (strength of the parent brand, perceived quality of the parent brand, perceived transfer-fit) as well as economic (conjoint analysis) approaches are applied. The results reveal a group of 25 % of consumers who show a price inelastic buying behaviour and who can be seen as a suitable target group for manufacturer’s brands. The example of the poultry brand Wiesenhof shows that brand extensions are an appropriate tool to introduce brands into the financially weak red meat sector.
