The National Pork Board’s strategic plan, approved at the 2025 National Pork Industry Forum, is allowing David Newman to get right to work in his new role as CEO. Although the National Pork Board (NPB) can’t influence supply, they can help the industry find common ground.
“Is it important to do production research and understand swine health and We Care ethical principles? Yes, absolutely, those are foundational and core to the business,” Newman says. “Is it important to focus on the future consumer of pork and what is driving them? Yes. Without them, we don’t have a business.”
But he says gone are the days where focus on one component will work. The industry needs to find common ground in the middle and focus on that, he explains.
“We want to make pork relevant,” Newman says. “Relevance is very important, and in order to do that, we’ve got to have a laser beam focus on our strategic priorities.”
The following three priorities for the organization provide a strong foundation to build out tactical approaches, Newman says.
1. Global Demand Strategy
How does the U.S. pork industry drive and increase the long-term value of pork? Newman believes the two most important two words in that question are long-term.
“The Taste What Pork Can Do Campaign, which is our domestic push, was just launched back in May,” he says. “When you think about how long it takes to measure the impact of a demand campaign, we are only six months in and while we do have very positive results, if you’re going to actually shift the dynamics around demand for pork, this takes years.”
He says that long-term push is a major focus of the National Pork Board’s board of directors. The fully integrated, data-driven digital campaign delivers an unapologetic message: pork is no longer the “other” anything. It stands proudly on its own – rich in flavor, rooted in culture, and exactly the kind of bold taste younger consumers crave.
“The tagline isn’t meant for pork producers. We produce the product and then we want somebody to eat it,” Rob Brenneman said at the National Pork Industry Forum. “We already know what it tastes like, and we don’t need a tagline to eat it. But we have to draw the attention of millions and millions of people who have not experienced raising pigs or being in agriculture.”
This campaign, combined with the international work NPB does with the U.S. Meat Export Federation, signifies the importance of the consumer as the industry moves forward.
2. State Support
How can NPB provide state associations with the resources and the tools that they need? The second priority of the strategic plan surrounds support of state pork associations and making sure that they are able to adapt to their ever-changing business.
“Every state is facing something different,” Newman says. “Having the opportunity to build a really strong foundation with our state partners, who I call our ground game, is critical. When you think about what we do holistically at the national organization, what we do as states, it’s really all about building out this strong strategic framework.”
With dedicated staff to support state associations, Newman believes the future is promising to empower states to do even more. National Pork Bord will be conducting professional development sessions to help support efforts to grow grassroots leadership throughout the country.
“State pork associations cannot be overlooked,” he emphasizes. “One of our strategic priorities is working very closely with them with our strong staff in producer and state services being led by Brett Kaysen. There’s a strong component there, and we’re going to continue to build on that.”
3. Pigs and People
How can we improve the lives of our pigs and our people? Newman says one way they will do this is through an increased focus on swine health and the development of a National Swine Health Strategy.
“We’ve spent the better part of the last year with our states, with our producers and other organizations to determine the best ways National Pork Board can support swine health,” Newman says. “Health challenges have impacted us, but diseases like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) have really ravaged the business for the last 24 months.”
Over the summer, the National Swine Health Strategy advisory group conducted 47 listening sessions with producer groups and allied stakeholder groups. They collected over 822 surveys, with about 68% of the total responses coming from producers. The other responses were from veterinarians and allied stakeholders.
The advisory group will use the data to set the strategic direction from which they will start to develop the work plans and output that can help achieve that strategic direction. After that, they will present these ideas to the boards in November and present an update at the National Pork Industry Forum in 2026. Although some of the strategies may be driven by NPB, National Pork Producers Council, state associations, researchers or allied industry, it’s starting with and ending with producers.
The Four P’s
Newman adds that there is also a lot of conversation around pork quality and about the product itself. In his mind, it’s important to keep the four P’s in mind.
“Do we have a plan? Yes, we have a strategic plan,” he says. “Do we have a process to accomplish the plan? Yes, we have a process. And my job is to help align that process. Do we have the right people to get that accomplished? Yes – our staff, our states, and our producers. Then, it’s about getting those people aligned in the right direction to implement the plan and the process. The fourth ‘p’ is the product, and that’s what drives the rest of the business.”
Listen to David Newman in the latest episode of The PORK Podcast.
