Midweek meal campaign generates good returns on pork sales

The latest phase of AHDB's Midweek Meals campaign resulted in almost £12 million of additional pork sales, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Pork medallion sales increased by 24% and all promoted cuts by 13.9% over 12 months. During the past two years, the same campaign generated a total of £25 million in additional sales for the industry.

The tongue-in-cheek TV adverts featuring a man dressed as a 'giant disgruntled chicken' tried to press home the message to consumers that pork was a versatile, tasty, easy and healthy alternative to chicken as a midweek meal.  

The adverts were seen by 83% of UK households, with every pound spent on marketing generating an additional £7.31 in sales, according to the research.

The independent evaluation showed the campaign successfully improved consumer perception of fresh pork as ‘suitable for midweek meals’ by 10 percentage points compared to pre-advertising, a key campaign aim.

AHDB said work is currently underway to develop the next phase of the campaign, which will see a new TV advert hitting screens in autumn 2019 and early in 2020.

AHDB’s strategy director Angela Christison said: “The uplift in sales is hugely encouraging during both phases of the campaign. However, the long game is to switch more consumers over to selecting pork more often. This is a particular aim with younger consumers in order to create habits which will sustain the industry in the future.

“This campaign has attracted new consumers to choose pork by showcasing the ease of cooking this incredibly versatile protein. This is precisely what it set out to achieve and inspiring consumers in this way is building a new image for this delicious meat.”

The graphic below highlights some of the key figures.