Where’s the opportunity for pork to interact with the consumer? How do we drive long-term demand? How do we get consumers deeper into our product portfolio?
These questions drive the National Pork Board (NPB) vice president of strategy and insights, Kiersten Hafer, in her work to increase consumer demand for pork products.
NPB’s Hafer and Neal Hull, director of domestic market development, joined “AgriTalk” to discuss their mission at NPB and the latest in demand for pork products.
Hull explains how NPB acts as the legs of the pork industry, engaging with stakeholders and having conversations and dialogues around all things pork. In recent years, specifically, the topic of ground pork has become popular.
Pandemic-Era Buying Opens The Door
“We saw during the pandemic the ground pork sales surge. It’s kind of been on the minds of producers in the industry for a long time, but we started digging a little bit deeper and looking into what was going on with the consumer. We realized that we were getting into new households that had never tried ground pork, and we were getting into younger households, which is critical for the industry as we advance going forward.” Hull explains.
Researching the possibilities to merchandise ground pork in Midwest retailers and seeing more recipes using the product has allowed the pork industry to highlight the versatility of ground pork.
“We’ve seen strong double-digit growth, getting into consumers. It’s all about ‘how do you take ground pork beyond just the pork burger.’” Hull says. He adds that ground pork is an ingredient that has been attractive in a multicultural type setting as well.
Surprising Reasons Behind the Buying Bump
Pork at the store offers prices lower than some alternatives, but Hafer describes the demand may be increasing for a different reason.
“We’ve seen increased demand, certainly with other things playing out in the case, such as supply chain disruption and pricing, but ultimately, we know for ground pork that it’s a destination item. There are some recipes that are floating around out there that have driven consumers to seek out the product,” Hafer explains.
The increasingly popular ‘egg roll in a bowl’ recipe has become a great proponent of ground pork demand, Hafer says. Stir-fry, pork wontons and adding ground pork to green beans came to mind for Hull in discussing other ground pork recipes.
Price-conscious shopping, especially with the rise in inflation, may be helping drive consumers to purchase pork. Hafer also believes ground pork provides consumers the variety, or something new and different, to serve to their families.
“Even some of the mail-order home meal kits that get shipped out, we’re starting to see a lot more ground pork in those as well. It really lends itself well. It’s like a blank palette,” Hull says.
When it comes to the domestic pork market, Hull believes the demand for pork is about affordability and how families can consume safe, healthy and nutritious protein.
“I think the sky’s the limit. We saw consumers go deeper into the pork set during the pandemic and we’re just looking to hold on to that momentum,” Hull says.
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