Pork’s next growth opportunity starts with a better understanding of the consumer—and the willingness to act on it. At the second Pork Innovation Summit, I saw an industry energized by that challenge. This was more than a discussion about innovation. It was focused on connecting, inspiring one another, collaborating, and activating opportunities to make pork more relevant to consumers.
Why Innovation Matters
For NPB, innovation isn’t a trend; it’s an investment in pork’s future and in the broader demand-strategy conversation.
NPB is intentionally investing to fuel innovation conversations that will benefit both ends of the value chain – consumers and producers. When consumers’ needs are met through products and meal solutions, producers also stand to benefit from increased consumption opportunities for pork.
Pork producers have set an example with innovation, which they’ve always practiced in their businesses. They’re constantly evolving, improving and strengthening their farms for generations to come; and the industry can follow suit when it comes to the products that are brought to market.
Innovation is a strategic priority for NPB, brought to life through connected efforts that turn consumer understanding into opportunities to enable and create growth for pork, including:
- the Consumer Connect Segmentation work, which provided a deep understanding of consumer behaviors;
- the launch of the Taste What Pork Can Do® campaign, which was designed to create awareness and consideration for pork among younger generations; the Innovation Playbook and Pork Innovation Webinar Series, which evaluated dishes, products and consumer jobs to be done, identifying how to position pork and innovate products to close gaps and earn a bigger role in everyday occasions—setting the stage for the Innovation Summit.
Innovation Starts with the Consumer
When brands and businesses think about innovation, they often start with their product first. At NPB, we’re challenging the value chain to start with the consumer.
Real innovation starts with understanding the consumer more deeply: what they choose, why they choose it, what they value, the behaviors, perceptions, motivators and needs that anchor their choices.
Understanding what comes next for pork means looking beyond what consumers tell us they need. It means observing how they make food choices, engage with brands, prepare meat and experience pork—uncovering unmet needs and opportunities they may not know how to articulate. Those insights guide innovation that gives consumers more reasons—and more occasions—to choose pork, building relevance and growing demand.
The Innovation Summit put NPB’s Innovation Strategy Framework and Innovation Playbook Webinar Series into practice. We explored what’s missing from consumers’ daily routines and meals — and how pork can fill the gap through better products, stronger positioning and new uses.
Here’s what consumers showed us:
- Cooking means different things at different life stages. The Culinary Capital Index adds depth to our Consumer Connect segmentation, helping us understand those differences and position pork to fit the way people actually prepare meals.
- Make pork easier to choose and prepare. Research points to an opportunity to take the guesswork out of mealtime—fewer decisions, less measuring and less worry about getting it right. That means developing products and meal solutions that make choosing and cooking pork feel easier.
But, consumer understanding is the starting point—not the finish line. The next step is to turn those insights into strategic choices: where pork can compete, how it can win and which product opportunities to pursue.
Where to Play – From Consumer Behavior to Opportunity
The summit brought together a broad body of NPB’s Business Intelligence work to show where pork can compete and how it can win—meeting consumer needs while creating new value for producers. Five cuts and product concepts made those opportunities tangible, showing how pork could earn a bigger role in everyday occasions:
- Coppa – The cut can go beyond barbecue with a scalable premium steak platform
- Pluma – Capitalizes on a chef-led steak that elevates the loin complex
- Presa – Create the opportunity to extract new value from this richly marbled shoulder cut
- Katsu – turns whole-muscle loin into a familiar crispy occasion
- Boston Butt Burger – builds on the success of ground pork and elevates the form to a newly defined premium burger experience
If you’re in the pork industry, understand what pork has to offer! But consumers, operators and retailers may not have thought about pork this way. These ideas build on eating occasions that already feel familiar and show them something new pork can bring to those experiences.
This is how NPB is working to support the industry and create growth – we advance the opportunity far enough for industry partners to see the potential, evaluate it against their capabilities and determine how they can bring it to market.
Innovation for the Consumer & Producer
The summit was just a taste of what’s possible. What matters now is what we do with it.
NPB will continue to advance opportunities the industry can evaluate, develop and bring to market. The invitation to all of us is to dare to innovate—to give consumers more reasons to choose pork and create more value for the producers who raise it. That’s the future we’re investing in: stronger demand for pork.
