The National Pork Board (NPB) recently formed six producer-led advisory committees tied to its strategic plan. The Domestic Marketing Advisory Committee helps strategize market growth across channel partners in foodservice, retail, packers and processors. In addition, the Taste What Pork Can Do® campaign strengthens demand for U.S. pork with younger consumers and various multicultural audiences. The committee’s perspectives connect checkoff-funded marketing efforts with broader U.S. pork industry priorities and challenges.
“We often remind each other that ‘more people eating more pork more often’ is our focus, and it aligns with goal No. 1 in our strategic plan to drive and increase the long-term value of pork,” said Jesse Heimer, NPB board member and Missouri producer. “This committee aims to promote pork in the marketplace and give consumers more reasons to choose pork.”
Committee members include:
NPB Board Member Co-Chairs
- Terry Wolters, Pipestone System, Wholestone Farms, South Dakota
- Jesse Heimer, Heimer Hampshires, Missouri
Producers
- Jason Christensen, Eichelberger Farms, Inc., Iowa
- Corey Miller, Linn Valley Pigs, Iowa
- Dwight Mogler, NPB Board Member, Mogler Farms/Pig Hill, Iowa
Allied Industry
- Jason Propst, Walk & Sons, FS Total Livestock Service, Illinois
- Joel Sparks, Audubon Manning Veterinary Clinic, Indiana
- Galen Williams H-E-B Grocery, Texas
- Jeffrey Wolff, Wolff Family Genetics, South Dakota
Packers, Processors and Integrators
- Will Brunt, Villari Food Group, North Carolina
- Kelly Haman, Webster City Custom Meats, Iowa
- Brad Hamilton, Clemens Food Group, Pennsylvania
- Brian Kelly, Porky Products, New Jersey
- Brian Lillis, Hormel Foods Corp, Minnesota
- Joe Locke, Tyson Foods, Oklahoma
- Zach Sanders, JBS USA, Colorado
- Brendan Smith, Smithfield Foods, Virginia
- Ozlem Worpel, Seaboard Foods, Kansas
State Pork Association Staff
- Bailey Borst, Minnesota Pork Board
- Mikayla Schaefer, Illinois Pork Producers Association
By uniting behind pork’s flavor, balanced nutrition and everyday appeal, this committee advises on partnerships across the supply chain that grow the entire pork category. Through domestic market growth, the industry inspires consumers to see pork in new ways, whether it’s ground pork driving value and volume, pork in plant-forward diets or recipes that make pork easier and more accessible to prepare.
Fresh off NPB’s Retail Advisory Committee Meeting, industry leaders convened to discuss challenges of supply and demand for competing proteins in the meatcase, GLP-1s and consumer shopping preferences and how protein consumption and eating habits continually evolve.
NPB aims to improve global pork demand, so the decline in pork consumption among domestic millennials and Gen Z is top of mind. Instead of meat being at the “center of the plate,” it’s now an ingredient in a dish for younger consumers. A versatile protein that adapts to every cuisine and mealtime resonates with younger consumers and with multicultural communities. The Taste What Pork Can Do® campaign creates a space for pork’s flavors to make everyday indulgence easier, and more affordable.
The Domestic Marketing Advisory Committee is charged with identifying opportunities to make pork relatable, relevant and magnify its ability to fit consumers’ lifestyles and life stages. As for the committee members selected, National Pork Board’s leadership carefully considered geographic diversity, producer representation and variety of operational practices.
