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Consumers are reaching for pork

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way consumers grocery shop, cook, and eat, according to the National Pork Board.

Kiersten Hafer tells Brownfield over the past year meat sales at all retail outlets have increased significantly.  “In 2020 we saw retail meat sales soar, up 11 percent in volume,” she says.  “And pork actually outperformed total meat, chicken, and turkey and was up 11.9 percent.”

She says their research suggests the at home cooking trend will remain strong over the next year, and keeping pork in front of consumers will be a priority.  “Helping them understand the various cooking methods that are now out there and how to take a lot of our cuts and apply them to those cooking methods,” she says.  “Things like Air Fryers, InstaPots, grilling is a big season opportunity for pork.”

And over the past year, Hafer says they’ve seen pork introduced to more age demographics.  “Typically, we would be solidly in the Gen X, Boomer demographic,” she says.  “And we saw with the pandemic Gen Z and Millennials were definitely interacting with pork and were shopping the pork in the meat case.”

She says since the start of the pandemic the percentage of households purchasing pork has increased by 5 percent, with a 3 percent increase in repeat purchasers. 

AUDIO: Kiersten Hafer, National Pork Board