Harvest Views: Reflecting on the Pork Industry in 2023
As fall harvest is in full swing this October, it’s an opportunity to reflect on the year so far. I’ll be honest – for pork producers across the country, it’s been a difficult year financially.
At the National Pork Board, our 15-member producer-led board and staff are keenly aware of the unprecedented challenges the pork industry is facing. While the current economic situation puts a damper on a normally celebratory Pork Month, it remains an opportunity for our industry to come together and take pride in the high-quality product we produce.
To support pork producers, we have been aggressively deploying Checkoff dollars to work with packers, retailers, foodservice and importers up and down the supply chain to drive demand for quality U.S.-raised pork and making the case for consumers to buy more pork more often.
The U.S. exports 27.5% of our annual pork production – meaning the maintenance and expansion of our international markets is critical. Recently, we strategically reallocated funds to support additional international and market development growth, building on existing robust market demand initiatives. The additional investment targets incremental demand creation for U.S. pork exports.
We’ve invested in foreign market development, trade promotion and facilitation to build global demand for U.S. pork, diversify markets and differentiate from competitors.
Through Checkoff research, NPB has identified highly populated areas in California, New York and Texas as key geographies critical to the growth of domestic demand for pork. These highly populated geographies have little knowledge of pork and production. We’re setting out to change consumer perceptions by strategically targeting them with digital ads, social media campaigns and Instacart options.
Furthermore, NPB has identified millennial moms as a key consumer audience. Motivated by taste, nutrition and simple meal preparation, millennial moms are a target audience for NPB’s newest platform, Surprisingly Pork. This is a vision to showcase pork in a new light, emphasizing that it is good for you and good for the planet.
Through Surprisingly Pork, we are translating relevant research into compelling and emotive language subverting people’s ingrained beliefs about pork.
Our efforts to grow domestic market demand were bolstered by our board last month, with the board approving an additional $2 million for activities in the fourth quarter. For 2023, we will have invested $10.1 million for domestic marketing, $11 million for international marketing, and $8.1 million for human nutrition.
Many consumers are surprised at how good pork is for people and the planet. What many are quick to forget is pork’s resilience over time. As a fourth-generation farmer and the CEO of the National Pork Board, I have witnessed this resilience.
The pork industry’s We Care Ethical Principles guide everything we do. I am incredibly proud to be part of an industry whose core values include a commitment to doing what’s right for people, pigs, and the planet.
We know work needs to be done to drive demand at home and across the globe. All our efforts – domestically and internally – add up to opportunity. We are working diligently to ensure brighter days are on the horizon.
Read More:
