Increasing Pork’s Relevance Through Innovation

Increasing Pork's Relevance Through Innovation

On this page:

• The Innovation Journey 
• Moving Consumers to Demand Pork
• Letting the Consumer Lead
• Where We Are and How to Win
• Let's Do This …

Innovation has always defined U.S. pork producers. They are resilient, resourceful and constantly evolving - and they increasingly expect that same spirit of innovation throughout the value chain.

But innovation rarely arrives in a neat, orderly package. More often, it feels messy. Unclear. Chaotic.

Industry leaders are navigating the tension between operating the business of today and imagining the business of tomorrow. Creating space for bold thinking and breakthrough ideas can be difficult when the demands of the present are so immediate.

At the same time, organizations across the industry are at very different stages of their innovation journey. They bring different experiences, different perspectives and different ambitions to the table. That diversity can make alignment difficult - and progress can sometimes feel fragmented.

But chaos is often the space where discovery begins.

Because when diverse ideas, perspectives and ambitions collide, they create the raw material for transformation. And if we can channel that energy into purposeful action, we can turn uncertainty into momentum - and momentum into progress.

Not by avoiding the chaos. But by finding the beauty of it all and innovating through it.

Over the next few weeks, the business intelligence team will introduce a series of innovation conversations - a playbook designed to help spark new thinking and uncover future opportunities for pork.

This work is rooted in a deep understanding of consumers: how they engage with food, the role dishes and meal experiences play in their lives, how they prepare products, and what they increasingly expect from the foods they choose.

By connecting consumer behaviors and emerging expectations to industry opportunity spaces, we can help the pork industry think bigger, move faster and innovate for what comes next.

The Innovation Journey 

The innovation journey began in 2021 when we identified that ground pork was under-indexed, underdeveloped and underrepresented at retail. The data pointed us to the product opportunity, and the innovation lens helped us grow the focus and conversation across the industry. 

Shortly after we started the ground pork conversation, a dish featuring ground pork put it on the map with consumers - Egg Roll in a Bowl. It wasn't a raw ground pork meat product that consumers were after; it was a dish! And that dish had ground pork! That was pork's window to test and learn in collaboration with Iowa Pork and Hy-Vee. 

In 2022, we answered the single biggest question facing consumer demand domestically - how do we replace the lost volume from our core pork consumer (boomers) aging out and consuming less pork? 

In 2024, we helped connect pork to its most valuable and important consumers through the development, launch and adoption of the NPB Consumer Connect segmentation. 

In 2025, we returned to marketing in a big way with the launch of the Taste What Pork Can Do® campaign.

The pork industry's progress in the last five years leads us to today - to an innovation playbook, last year's Innovation Summit, one-on-one strategy sessions and now, a series of webinars to share more of our learnings and what's next.

We're so honored to be on this journey with you.

Moving Consumers to Demand Pork

Building consumer demand requires more than marketing alone. It happens when people, promotion and product work together to create meaningful food experiences.

It begins with understanding people - how consumers live, eat, use products and gather, and what they expect from food today.

Promotion helps inspire and connect those experiences to pork, reinforcing its relevance in culture, meals and occasions.

And product innovation helps ensure we continue evolving alongside consumers, delivering solutions that meet changing needs and expectations.

Together, these three elements create the momentum needed to grow demand and shape the future of pork.

Innovation plays a critical role in:

• Making our product more accessible
• Meeting consumers where they are
• Adding more value to the carcass - we know that 50% of the carcass is underdeveloped, underutilized and undervalued

The ultimate goal is moving beyond enabling demand growth - we're already doing that - but moving consumers to demanding pork by actively seeking, prioritizing and repeating pork.

Letting the Consumer Lead

We often say the Pork Checkoff is producer-led, consumer-focused. When it comes to innovation, we're listening intently to consumers and identifying what they're asking their food to do for them. For example, consumers today "cook" less than they "assemble." Bowls, salads, meal kits, etc. This is just one example of an opportunity for pork to innovate. By starting with how consumers want to use our product, we can work toward a future state of pork shifting from occasionally to every day to part of their food habit.

We have a great product! But how do we empower consumers to take action with pork? How do we remove barriers and burden, leading to irrational pork loyalty?

Where We Are and How to Win

At the first annual Innovation Summit, the industry confirmed NPB's innovation strategy framework, and as part of that conversation, we shared three territories and innovation pathways that will serve the pork category for the foreseeable future. We found ways for pork to be part of consumers' life stages and lifestyles.

Here are just a few examples of how these territories can ignite industry thinking:

• Variety in product positioning
• Connect user experience and function
• Convenience and delicious dining options
• Deliver today's consumers' needs

Let's Do This …

Before we start to solve for pork, we want to expand our thinking and learn from the world around us. Take a look at how these brands, dishes and products are connecting with our consumers!

Let's embrace the chaos, explore diverse ideas, get a new perspective and let our ambitions collide. Let's bring order, find the beauty, and start the innovation journey. This is self-care for your business and brand, so give yourself permission to learn and grow your innovation mindset.

Join us for the Innovation Webinar Series and learn:

• How Behavior and Culture Can Be Leveraged Into Growth
• From Dishes to Products - How Pork Performs
• Innovation Opportunities Through the Lens of Consumer Segmentation
• The Pork Innovation Capstone - Opportunity Areas and White Spaces

This is the opportunity to shape what comes next - delivering the right product, with the right promotion, to the right people in ways that show consumers and the industry alike that pork's time is NOW!