By Malinda Geisler, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University, malindag@iastate.edu

Profile updated January 2012.


Overview
Several producers have turned to direct marketing their pork enterprises by developing and expanding on the niche to market pork directly to consumers, bypassing traditional marketing channels.

Reasons for direct marketing include the opportunity to capture a greater share of the food dollar. The value farmers currently contribute to food expenditures accounts for just 16 percent of the total value.

Another reason for direct marketing is the growing consumer segment that desires information about the origin and the method used to raise their food. This trend relates to traceability. The ability to trace a product to the original source is a critical food safety issue.

A growing number of individual pork producers and producer groups are reaching new consumers using the Internet. With widespread sales of home computers, an estimated 69 percent of the U.S. population has Internet access. More consumers are shopping over the Internet. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, total e-commerce sales during 2009 were estimated at $145 billion. An affordable method to market new products directly to consumers is for producers to establish their own Web sites.

Pork and pork products sold over the Internet must be processed in federally inspected plants. If meat is processed in a state-inspected facility, it is only legal to sell the meat within that state.
 
Farmers’ Markets
Direct marketing to consumers using farmers’ markets continues to grow in the United States. According to the USDA, there were more than 7,175 farmers’ markets in 2011, up from 3,700 in 2004. Farmers’ markets are beneficial to farm operations that have less than $250,000 in annual receipts. The markets provide an outlet to consumers interested in purchasing products directly from growers.

Competition
Other protein sources, namely, beef, poultry and fish, will continue to compete with pork for consumer purchases. USDA estimates an increase in per capita consumption of fruits, nuts, eggs, poultry and fish in the coming years, based on current consumption patterns and the increasing diversity of the U.S. population.

Pork marketed directly to consumers will also be affected by the growing trend of more meals consumed outside of the home. Expenditures on away-from-home food now account for nearly 48 percent of the $1.24 trillion in total U.S. food expenditures.
 

Sources
Farmers' Markets, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

Food CPI, Prices and Expenditures, Briefing Room, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.

Food Marketing System in the U.S. , ERS, USDA.

United States Department of Commerce
 

Profile created January 2003 and updated January 2012.