OKLAHOMA CITY – National Pork Board Senior Director of Processing and Engagement Kevin Sheehan outlined the importance of transforming pork’s image in the eyes of America’s youth.
During the Oklahoma Pork Congress, held Aug. 1-2 in Oklahoma City, Sheehan said pork is irrelevant to young people, namely because cuts like pork loin and pork butt aren’t air fryer friendly. He aims to make pork more convenient for them.
For convenience, smaller, frozen, precooked products would work best.
Early on, when governmental precautions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many restaurants and other businesses, people began to cook at home more often. People would experiment with recipes designed for Crock-Pots and Insta-Pots, Sheehan said.
“We have to teach them to cook with pork through recipes, through convenience, through pre-marinated items. We are seeing a lot more pre-marinated items out there on the pork side,” he said.
Ground pork has become more popular in the prepackaged meals that people are having shipped to their homes.
“When you look at the nutritional value of 85% lean ground pork, it has the same lean content of 85% lean ground turkey,” Sheehan said. “So, then you get to choose the flavor profile and the texture profile that you like. And ground pork sure wins in those.”
The National Pork Board has utilized social media campaigns among other strategies to reach young people.
“Young people are getting their recipes through Instagram or TikTok rather than from recipe books,” Sheehan. “They are looking at a 15-second video of a piece of pork dropping onto a cutting board and automatically turning into six pieces of pork. So, getting in through influencers and geotargeting also works.
“Several states are high people population states and low pig population states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, and cities like Chicago or Miami. [We’re] geotargeting those areas with specific multicultural advertising and recipes, and recipes for millennial moms. That’s how we are doing it.”