On a table in front of a crowded room in the middle of the big, bustling energy of World Pork Expo is the reason for the entire event: a humble pork carcass.
“If we don’t have consumers eating this thing from nose to tail every single day, every single one of us would not be at this fairgrounds, and this event and this industry wouldn’t exist,” says David Newman, CEO of the National Pork Board (NPB).
Embracing Cultural Authenticity
Newman demonstrated a pork carcass fabrication while he and other NPB staff members spoke about opportunities to increase pork sales by “thinking beyond the chop” and changing the way pork is positioned to gain the attention of younger consumers and those with tastes that vary from the standard commercial cuts in the U.S.
“Ultimately this business is about the entire value chain that ends in a consumer eating experience,” Newman says.
Pork has the versatility to meet a broad range of preferences and is the protein of choice in a wide variety of cultures, he adds.
“We have a multicultural audience, which is the fastest-growing audience, here in the United States that provides opportunities to celebrate culture and authenticity,” Newman says. “The reason I slow down and say culture and authenticity is because in my opinion as a pork advocate and a meat scientist, if you go around the world, pork is one of the most culturally authentic proteins that exist.”
It’s not necessary to look overseas to find cultures that demand a variety of pork cuts, he adds. The melting pot of cultures in the U.S. is a strong factor in domestic demand, and the pork industry can learn from all those cultures as well as neighboring countries: “It’s no longer, ‘This is what we do in the U.S., and that’s what they do in Mexico, and that’s what they do in Colombia.’ Rather, it’s, “What can we learn from what they’re doing in Mexico? What can we learn from what they’re doing in Colombia and potentially bring that innovation and those thought processes back here into the U.S.?”
Meeting the Needs of a New Generation
Nationality isn’t the only cultural difference driving opportunities for the pork industry. Younger consumers have far different preferences than their parents and grandparents, says Sarah Showalter, NPB director of business and consumer insights.
“That’s a huge opportunity for pork as we think about how we show up, whether it’s portion size or even the time it takes to cook some of these cuts,” she says. “How can we make it more convenient for consumers and maybe show up a little bit differently than we are today?”
One product gaining momentum in sales is ground pork, “a great gateway into the fresh pork set,” because it meets the needs of younger consumers, Showalter adds. The “gate” swings both ways. Ground pork is an opportunity for pork marketers to gain entry into more households.
“If they have a great eating experience, hopefully it will encourage them to repeat their purchase and continue to drive demand,” Showalter says.
Driving Pork Demand Through Convenience
In addition to excellent taste and quality, convenience is a prime factor in retail meat sales. Other proteins, including beef and chicken, have capitalized on convenience, as well as on the demand for food that can be eaten on the go. Taking those extra few steps in processing adds value that consumers are willing to pay for, she adds.
“Some of our competitors are adding those steps to just make it just that much more convenient to consumers,” Showalter says. “It may be strips. It may be diced products. It may be slices to add that extra level of convenience to make it easier on them.”
Balancing Scale With Innovation
The opportunity to grow sales through new or unique cuts of pork must be balanced with the economics of working at scale, Newman says. Specialty cuts aren’t always easy or practical in a large-scale application, where it’s common to process as many as 20,000 pigs per day, as opposed to a local meat locker, which might process one pig per day.
But some change will be required to support long-term growth in pork demand, Newman says.
“If we want to capture the consumer in the long term, we’re going to have to capture them with a consistent, great eating experience,” he says. “We’re not necessarily taking advantage of some of the opportunities that are staring us in the face quite literally every single day.”
