After 80 years of trying to reduce pork fat, hog farmers are now being advised to increase marbling to improve sales.
CoBank said pork’s opportunity to reconnect with U.S. consumers has never been bigger and more marbling to improve taste, greater convenience and larger roasts would help.
About one quarter of U.S. pork production is exported, a share that has roughly doubled in the last 20 years. Canada exports about 70 per cent of its pigs and pork.
The U.S. pork industry is highly reliant on exports in an era of trade policy risk, but unleashing stalled domestic demand could help, according to a new report Thursday from Cobank.
Brian Earnest, lead animal protein economist with CoBank and Cobank analyst Abbi Prins wrote that “if the U.S. consumer is to truly reimagine pork, some fairly significant changes may be required over time.
“Recalibrating the genetic hog makeup and showcasing different cuts at retail and through food service could be in order. Utilizing pork in a new way could help find the pork equivalent of a beef T-bone or rib-eye for a richly flavored, premium-priced offering.”
