Case study
NPB domestic demand strategy and implementation
By the National Pork Board
The path to long-term pork demand growth includes making pork relevant and relatable to younger generations. By featuring pork’s versatility in flavor and as an ingredient, the Pork Checkoff-funded tool Consumer Connect will help the National Pork Board and value chain members reimagine pork in the marketplace and share the right information with the right people in the right place at the right time.
ProblemPork’s consumer base is shrinking, but that decline is reversible. Millennial and Gen Z consumers see pork as:
Indulgent
Intimidating to cook, specifically larger muscle cuts
inferior compared to proteins they grew up cooking and consuming
SolutionNPB conducted extensive market research to better understand changing consumer attitudes, preferences and habits. After completing an audit of current research to avoid duplication, the NPB team worked with a third party to develop the industry’s seven consumer segments. Each segment is defined by its cohort’s motivations, needs and emotions about pork.
By understanding each segment’s unique attitudes and opportunities, NPB has identified four growth strategies:
Win Where We Are: Keep pork consumers coming back.
Win Bigger: These people consume pork regularly. Help them choose pork more often.
Incubate for Growth: They buy pork, but barriers prevent them from choosing it more often. The usual tactics aren’t effective, so it’s time for a new approach.
Emerging Growth: This is a small group, but it is growing fast. Prepare to serve them in the future.
Read more about these findings here.
The National Pork Board has responsibility for Pork Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public.
