Pork Checkoff Refocusing Efforts on Hispanic American Consumers

DES MOINES, IA – As the month of October comes to end, so does the official celebration for National Pork Month. One thing that is not coming to an end is the industry’s focus on Hispanic consumers. Bill Even is CEO of the National Pork Board (NPB) and explains that nationwide, the Hispanic market is massive. “They’ve got $1.7 trillion in buying power and on consumer packaged goods, they’re spending over $95 billion a year. So that’s your groceries and things of that nature. Add in the fact that over the past nine years nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population growth has come from the Hispanic community, from a base of around 60 some million people and the good news for American farmers and American pork producers is that they love pork.” Even explains that if you’re trying to innovate and decide what sort of product to offer or how to position it, the Pork Board has some great information in a report called “Time to Tango, Latinos are Pork’s Future”. According to the report, nearly half of Hispanics do not choose to go to mainstream retailers, but instead, they’ll prefer to go to a specialty store or an ethnic market because that’s where they’re going to be able to find the products that they’re most familiar with or comfortable with. A main area of focus, Even says, is to move from the perspective that pork must remain in the center of the plate, and instead look for ways to become an ingredient in more dishes.