While pork producers experienced a hard year for profitability in 2023, creating a greater level of prevalence and relevance for pork as a preferred protein is top of mind for the National Pork Board. Brett Kaysen, senior VP of producer and state engagement, sees many opportunities for growing volume and value for the whole pork supply chain. As a preview of Pork Week and the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, June 5-6, Kaysen spoke with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory about what producers can expect.
“I’m really excited about the Consumer Connect work that the National Pork Board is leading,” Kaysen says. “It’s all about, ‘how do you talk to consumers by demographic, by generation.”
As an industry, the research shows an opportunity for connecting with Gen Z’s and Millennials. The Boomer generation has been the best consumer of pork over time, being comfortable purchasing a large ham and eating it as a family versus a Millennial or Gen Z consumer who wants a pre-sliced quarter-pound ham that’s ready to go.
“What’s getting us excited is that we can digitally target and talk to people about what their preference is in this wonderful protein called pork,” Kaysen says.
It’s also important to celebrate the positive, which is processed pork does well across generations.
“Bacon’s always a winner across the generations,” he says. “Where we’re seeing the decline is in the fresh pork category. And as the data comes in, as we start to analyze that, you know from now, and as you move out to 2032, if we don’t make pork more relevant to these younger generations, we’ll see another decline of 1.7 pounds of fresh pork per capita consumption moving out here over the next decade. And that’s something we look to reverse and we will reverse with this new consumer connect strategy.”
The consumer connect work focuses on addressing generational differences, ethnic differences and product differences. Kaysen says there are additional variables in creating demand, including giving consumers a recipe, the appliance to use and cooking methodology. Part of that is educating consumer that cooking fresh pork to the USDA standard of 145 degrees creates a more juicy and tender eating experience.
“The 145, please was such a successful piece of the value proposition for our farmers, and we continue to drive that message,” he says. “But there’s more work to do in that space, for sure.”
With 339 million Americans, how does the industry effectively and efficiently build demand for pork? Consumers can be divided into seven segments and four of those segments have been identified for opportunities to grow in volume and value, Kaysen explains.
“The data is better on who to approach and the tools are better,” Kaysen says. “And that we can digitally target to talk about this wonderful thing — pork, and make it relevant to them in their heart, in their mind, into their family.”
Listen to the full episode here:
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