Despite consumers showing interest in plant-based meat options, sales of these meat alternatives have been falling steadily since 2021. A report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange found that sales of meat alternatives have dropped over 20 percent for the 52-week period ending July 2, 2023.
In efforts to promote pork as a “real” option for consumers, the Illinois Pork Producers Association along with other state pork associations have teamed up with the National Pork Board to promote their marketing campaign 100% Real Pork, says IPPA District 1 Director Jill Brokaw.
“In the last few years, we have had some different trials done with local grocers with ground pork being put in the meat case and replacing some of those artificial meats or other protein options. The grocers were finding that they were expiring on the shelf and they were losing that dollar capture. With the help of the National Pork Board, we got them to remove those from the front-facing cases, move them back to the freezer section, and replace that space with pork products. It showed a significant increase in the amount of ground pork distributed because of that action.”
National Pork Board carried out this test with 70 Hy-Vee grocery stores in 2022. The sale of ground pork was 20% higher in the stores that added a ground pork section than in the control stores.
