Innovation means finding better ways to create value. For pork, that starts with understanding consumers and developing products that give them more reasons to choose it. Earlier this fall, National Pork Board (NPB) brought supply chain leaders together for the second Innovation Summit. Participants explored opportunities for the industry and shared their expertise all with the same goal: adding value and growing demand for U.S. pork.
Why This Matters for Producers
The Innovation Summit helped establish a shared direction for building pork demand. Turning ideas into lasting growth will take continued testing, supply development and collaboration. The producer-led Innovation and Pork Quality Advisory Committee and NPB producer leadership will guide that work, with Checkoff investing activity that will provide:
- More reasons to choose pork through the products that fit consumers’ lives.
- Opportunities to build value through new uses for pork cuts at home and abroad.
- Research put into practice by connecting insights with supply chain expertise.
- Long-term demand by developing products consumers want to buy again.
The Top 4 Things Producers Should Know Coming Out of Innovation Summit
Ground Pork Can Bring Pork into More Everyday Meals
Ground pork offers a practical way to bring pork into more everyday meals. At this year’s Innovation Summit, discussions explored its role in helping consumers become more familiar with pork and the potential to build on that familiarity through products such as the Boston Butt Burger.
The potential for ground pork is large. A Checkoff-funded study identified an approximately $80 million opportunity in additional retail ground pork sales through expanded offerings. These potential sales are dependent on retailers putting the opportunities into practice. This year’s event encouraged attendees to connect that opportunity with a broader innovation question: How can pork fit more naturally into the meals people already enjoy? This is an example of using Checkoff-funded insights to help the industry develop products people have a reason to buy again and again.
New Cuts Give Shoppers Another Reason to Choose Pork
NPB introduced a collection of cuts focused on convenience and versatility, including coppa and pluma. Participants explored how naming and familiar meal applications, such as steak-style dinners and sandwiches, could help consumers picture these cuts on their plates.
The collection reflects NPB’s ongoing work to connect consumer needs with product development, culinary applications and naming. At the event, participants explored how these elements can work together.
Ground pork and new cuts can work together. Ground pork can provide an approachable option for everyday meals, while a new cut offers another eating experience. NPB’s Just Add Two approach gives retailers a practical way to offer more choice:
- One ground pork item for approachable, everyday meals.
- One new pork cut for a different eating experience like a pork blade steak, coppa or pluma.
Together, these options give shoppers more reasons to choose pork across meals and occasions. It also identifies cuts that align with the retailer’s shoppers and pricing strategy creating greater choice and visibility. The work connects consumer research with products designed to build demand.
Popular Pork Dishes Abroad Can Spark New U.S. Meal Ideas
Looking beyond U.S. borders can inform new opportunities for pork. The katsu session explored how Japan’s crispy pork cutlet could fit U.S. meals, including sandwiches and bowls.
NPB’s partnership with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) brings international market knowledge to build demand and value for U.S pork. Convenience is a shared consumer need:
I do believe that there are a lot of similarities between international and domestic consumers because people are looking for convenience. So it doesn’t matter where in the globe, they just want something easy to cook.
Chef Germán Navarrete Terán, USMEF, director of culinary programs
USMEF promotes U.S. pork loin in Japan through tonkatsu, a popular breaded pork cutlet dish. Matching the cut with local preferences creates a demand opportunity. The exploration of katsu brings the same consumer-focused thinking into a conversation about opportunities in the U.S.
Connecting the Supply Chain Helps Move Pork Ideas Forward
Innovation Summit brought people from across the supply chain together to present, learn and collaborate. Chefs, meat scientists, pork processors, professors of linguistics and animal science and state pork associations are a few examples of the panelists who brought different perspectives to the summit. Producers and industry partners could hear different perspectives on the same challenge: how to put more pork on more people’s plates.
Participants learned from one another while exploring products from the Brasa collection such as coppa, pluma, katsu, presa and the Boston Butt Burger. Bringing that expertise together connects Checkoff-funded work with the people who can put it into practice. NPB serves as a resource and collaborator, helping industry partners build on consumer insights and learn from each other as they pursue opportunities for pork.
