The Other Meatcase

What do you get when you put a great cut of meat, hungry people and catchy marketing together?  Effective retail promotions that help sell more pork. 

Over the years the Pork Checkoff has worked to provide retailers with innovative ideas such as America’s Cut™, the Other Tailgate Party™ and Pork Racing to increase sales.

For instance, the Pork Checkoff made history in 1987 with the introduction of America’s Cut, which was one of the first trademarked cuts of meat  introduced by a trade commodity organization.  America’s Cut introduced a premium, thick-cut, boneless pork chop to U.S. consumers.  

“America’s Cut gave pork a premium identity,” said Karen Boillot, director of retail marketing for the Pork Checkoff.   “America’s Cut still occupies space in meatcases today as a premium boneless cut.”

After the success of America’s Cut, the Pork Checkoff introduced Chef’s Prime™,  the prime rib of pork.  Chef’s Prime improved retailers’ bottom line because  it was more profitable per pound than average roasts.

“At the time that Chef’s Prime was introduced, the rib end of the boneless loin was not a popular roast item,” Boillot said.  “This cut changed that and gave retailers more ideas on how to merchandise the rib end.”

Fast forward to today, and the Pork Checkoff has identified other solutions to provide value to consumers and retailers alike with four new cuts.  The new cuts originate from the pork shoulder and leg, two primals that have not had significant new product innovation and are typically under-valued.  They are:

•Pork breast – This is a very versatile piece of meat and can be used in a variety of dishes.  It has similar dimensions as a chicken breast, so could be easily used in place of poultry. Some packers are already marketing this cut as the “pork breast.”

•Petite tender – This cut is a portion for one and can be used for upscale dishes because of its high tenderness.  This is equivalent to a small tenderloin and could be used for medallions. 

•Cap steak – This is a thin, striated muscle, similar to a flank steak. This will work well in ethnic dishes such as fajitas or stir fry or other uses on the grill.

• Pocket roast – This roast is very tender and juicy, and portioned for two. It could be a rotisserie product or a petite roast. 

“After exposure to the foodservice industry, we’ll roll this program out to retailers and ultimately consumers,” Boillot said.  “Obviously, consumer education and consumer-friendly product names will be critical.  We’ll be prepared to team with retailers through our programs to help educate consumers how to successfully prepare these new cuts of pork.”

Make Every Minute Count

Checkoff funded-research has shown that consumers spend an average of 4 minutes making a general meat purchase and 1.4 minutes on average making a pork purchase.  To make every minute count, the Checkoff conducts promotions throughout the year with thousands of supermarkets across the country.

“The Pork Checkoff is continuously working to provide promotions to help drive retail sales,” Boillot said.  “We work with retailers to develop programs geared to their key selling time periods and their customer goals.”

The Other Tailgate Party promotion is just one example of how retail promotions are moving pork.  In 2005, the Checkoff partnered with 30 retail chains to move over 53 million pounds of fresh pork representing a 24 percent increase from 2004.