There is some very interesting/thought provoking research out of University of Illinois on if pork quality will ever matter. No matter how it’s looked at - color, pH, marbling - the gist is consumers won’t pay. Even most the pork “prime” programs have been a flop. The only variable that moved the needle on consumer acceptance: cooking it to 145. I think pork’s CAB moment will have to come outside of the quality space. National Pork Board has tried multiple times to get momentum behind a quality grading program and every time it’s gone nowhere. Ultimately, if a consumer is being told to pay more for a “premium” product that doesn’t taste significantly better than the lower quality (cheaper) alternative...it’s tough to build anything that sustains.
It raises the point though of whether the primary benefit of a grading system would be to unlock a premium, or simply to grow the market because as consumers have better pork eating experiences then they buy more pork. Given that overall meat demand is growing and fresh pork is relatively flat, it seems like a worthy bet on maintaining pork's relevance, no?
There is some very interesting/thought provoking research out of University of Illinois on if pork quality will ever matter. No matter how it’s looked at - color, pH, marbling - the gist is consumers won’t pay. Even most the pork “prime” programs have been a flop. The only variable that moved the needle on consumer acceptance: cooking it to 145. I think pork’s CAB moment will have to come outside of the quality space. National Pork Board has tried multiple times to get momentum behind a quality grading program and every time it’s gone nowhere. Ultimately, if a consumer is being told to pay more for a “premium” product that doesn’t taste significantly better than the lower quality (cheaper) alternative...it’s tough to build anything that sustains.
It raises the point though of whether the primary benefit of a grading system would be to unlock a premium, or simply to grow the market because as consumers have better pork eating experiences then they buy more pork. Given that overall meat demand is growing and fresh pork is relatively flat, it seems like a worthy bet on maintaining pork's relevance, no?