Grocery Business - December 2018

H12 2019 MEAT HANDBOOK WINSIGHT GROCERY BUSINESS
Demystifying Pork at the
2018 Pork Summit

It may come as a surprise to some that I, a self-proclaimed bacon enthusiast, have never been much of a pork fan. While I find bacon to be undoubtedly delicious in all its applications, the thought of pork in any other form has always spurred flashbacks to childhood dinners, when I’d smother my mother’s pork chops in applesauce to mask their paper dust texture and utter lack of flavor.

I believed that pork was inherently dry and tasteless—that is, until I attended the National Pork Board’s (NPB’s) 2018 Pork Summit, where I ate (and thoroughly enjoyed) more pork in three days than I have in my lifetime. As it turns out, pork is in fact a juicy, tender and flavorful product—not to mention a healthy alternative to chicken and beef—but is often overcooked due to a lingering stigma about the quality and safety of pink meat.

Certainly, I am not the only millennial with an unsatisfying pork-eating experience. As the cooking-temperature stigma continues to fade, retailers have an opportunity to draw weary shoppers back to pork with new, innovative products such as globally inspired meal kits. Chefs at the Pork Summit curated dishes, including a pork milanesa breakfast torta, that can easily translate to retail in convenient hot bar and meal kit applications.

With that, the NPB revealed at the Pork Summit its initiative to bring pork rotisserie to retail as an alternative to chicken, emphasizing opportunity in fresh pork loin due to the surplus in supply. Shoppers who buy rotisserie chicken generally have larger basket sizes, and offering a pork rotisserie can yield the same results, providing an inexpensive product that can be used in various applications, including meal kits with dishes such as a carnitas-style quinoa bowl.

As shoppers become more comfortable with fresh pork purchases via prepared products and meal kits, the NPB is also working to unite the pork industry on a common nomenclature for fresh pork products to reduce consumer confusion. “There’s not a lot of consistency across the country at the retail meat case when it comes to chop cuts and names,” says Sutton. “We want to mirror some of the cuts and names our beef colleagues have long marketed, and consumers are familiar with—like the porterhouse and the ribeye—to provide a better and more consistent experience at the meat counter.”

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F T H E N A T I O N A L P O R K B O A R D

profiles, easy entry cooking products and inspirational recipes can give consumers confidence and regain their confidence in pork,” she says.

Tender cuts such as pork shoulder, pork loin and pork belly, coupled with Hispanic- and Asian-inspired seasonings or recipes, appeal to consumer demand for affordable, flavorful and ethnic meal solutions. “Pork is relevant in cultural dishes, dominant in ethnic cuisine and plays very well in this type of role,” says Kent Harrison, VP of marketing and premium programs for Tyson Fresh Meats, based in Dakota Dunes, S.D. “It can bring flavor from all around the world to the center of the family dinner table.”

An End to the Stigma

With a mission to increase consumption of pork in the U.S., the NPB examines consumer behaviors to better understand barriers to purchase and ultimately use those insights to drive innovation at the meat counter. The organization held its annual Pork Summit in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in late July, which rounded up dozens of chefs, pork producers and industry experts to share and absorb information on butchering, cooking techniques, health attributes and unique recipes.

On the final day, attendees teamed up for a market basket exhibition, testing the techniques learned throughout the event to create five pork dishes, including a globally inspired entree that could be used in a meal kit and a dish for the hot bar at retail. With meal kits and prepared foods driving growth in other categories of the store, retailers have an opportunity to boost pork sales by repositioning pork for a consumer mindset.

However, their efforts should not end there. In addition to providing innovative products and meal solutions, retailers must offer educational resources—like those presented at the Pork Summit—to help consumers understand the quality and, in particular, the recommended temperature for fresh cooked pork. “Pork has a stigma from decades ago, especially related to proper cooking temperatures,”