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AHDB pork campaign generates millions for industry

21st Sep 2016 / By Alistair Driver

The second phase of AHDB Pork’s Pulled Pork campaign generated an extra £13 million for the pig industry, according to figures just released.

Pulled PorkAnalysis by independent research company Kantar showed it generated a good return for levy payers - over £7.55 of additional sales across the whole category for every £1 spent on marketing activity by AHDB Pork.

The £13m figure reflects pork sales attributed to the TV and digital advertising along with in-store marketing activity alone.

When the price promotions, arranged to support the advertising campaign, are taken into account this figure will be much higher, AHDB Pork said.

The Kantar figures revealed 30 per cent of the incremental spend came from consumers who had not previously bought a pork, beef or lamb roasting joint, with 56 per cent from ‘light’ buyers of pork who would usually only buy pork once or twice a year.

It also attracted younger shoppers to pork, with two-thirds being under 55 years of age, the campaign’s target demographic. 

The campaign, which ran over two bursts of activity, from February to March 8 and April 6 to May 8, strove to inspire consumers to try pulled pork at home, either by cooking it themselves or buying a convenient version. 

This was measured by an increase in sales of pork shoulder and convenient pulled pork products and attitudes to pulled pork and pork as a whole.  

The results show the second phase (the first ran in the spring of 2015) again stimulated demand for the currently under-utilised pork shoulder joint, and had a wider impact on the whole fresh pork category.

Retail support

UK retailers were also supportive, sourcing an average of 92 per cent of their fresh pork shoulder and pulled pork products from Britain during the campaign. The research showed 59 per cent of the sales value increase was from shoppers buying pork shoulder without cutting spend on other meats.

Ten major retailers engaged with the campaign, with a mixture of in-store and online marketing activities, including campaign stickers appearing on over 1.5 million packs of pork shoulder. 

The majority of retailers increased their range of pork shoulder joints, steaks and pulled pork products during the campaign period or as a result of the campaign.

Kirsty Walker, AHDB Pork’s head of marketing, said the levy body was ‘really pleased with the results’.

“It’s really important we maintain momentum and keep inspiring consumers to buy pork. We need to remember this is just the first step on the journey to rejuvenate the image of pork by making it more relevant to today’s consumer.”

AHDB Pork chair, Meryl Ward said: “The pulled pork campaign has been incredibly successful in getting the industry to working together on raising the profile of pork whilst driving both volume sales and value of pork shoulder.”