Overview

Niche marketing is targeting a product or service to a small market segment that is not being served or in which demand has not exceeded supply. A market niche can be identified as a geographical area, a specific industry, ethnic group or a particular age group. An ethnic market is a group of consumers that share a common cultural background. The increasingly diverse U.S. population offers pork producers several marketing niches to pursue.  July 2012 ... Niche/Ethnic Pork

Marketing

• An Evaluation of the Importance to Consumers of Selected Niche Pork Attributes, Pork Niche Market Working Group, 2005 - This project estimated the market potential of niche pork products. It was funded by the National Pork Board with support from the Pork Niche Market Working Group. 
• Areas of Possible Collaboration among Niche Pork Companies, Pork Niche Market Working Group, 2007 - The project identified five possible areas of collaboration among niche pork companies.
• Berkshire Swine Production and Marketing, Iowa State University, 2006 - This recent study provides an overview of the Berkshire niche market and lists breed-specific certification studies. The report was supported by the Value Chain Partnership for a Sustainable Agriculture and the Pork Niche Market Working Group, using funds from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
• Comparing Swine Niche Market Opportunities, Iowa State University, updated 2003 - The eight-page publication offers a comparison of five existing niche market groups in Iowa.
• Hogs, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.
• Factors Affecting Pork Consumption, ERS, USDA, 2005 - Pork ranks third in annual U.S. meat consumption. This report analyzes existing and potential pork consumption trends using demographic data.
• Global Agricultural Trade System, Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA.
• Maximizing Carcass Utilization in Niche Pork Companies, Pork Niche Market Working Group and the Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture Project, 2007 - This study reviewed the supply of natural and organic pork available from niche pork companies.
• Meat, Livestock, Poultry and Eggs Analysis, FAS, USDA.
• National Pork Board Niche Marketing Factsheet, National Pork Board.
• New Product Development for Pork Niche Marketing, Pork Niche Market Working Group, 2004 - This online guide describes the new product development process and provides a list of resources.
• NichePORK - This Web site by the checkoff-funded National Pork Board provides answers and resources regarding niche marketing.
• Niche Pork Marketing Opportunities, Pork Niche Market Working Group, 2003 - This USDA-funded study identified niche pork marketing opportunities for Iowa producers. It focused on major markets in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis and Kansas City.
• Pork: Marketing Alternatives, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), NCAT, 2004 - This publication offers producers alternative marketing approaches, such as direct or niche marketing, for their pork.
• Pork Niche Market Working Group
• Profitable Pork: Strategies for Hog Producers - The Sustainable Agriculture Network provides examples of producers who serve niche markets. Jarrod Sutton, Vice President, Channel Marketing, National Pork Board, Des Moines, Iowa, Phone: 515-223-2600, Email: jsutton@pork.org   
• United States Pork Niche Market Phenomenon, Iowa State University, 2006.

Production

• Alternative Swine Production, University of Minnesota Swine Extension research reports.
• Costs, Returns, Production and Financial Efficiency of Niche Pork Production, Iowa State University Extension and Practical Farmers of Iowa, 2006 - This project reports data collected from 41 farrow-to-finish farms.
• Efficiency of Niche Pork Production in 2007, Iowa State University, 2010 - Information from 27 niche pork producers was analyzed for production cost and efficiency. Pigs from these farrow-to-finish farms were typically "natural," meaning they were raised without antibiotics using bedded pens with outdoor access.
• Efficiency of Niche Pork Production in 2008, Iowa State University, 2010 - Information from 18 niche pork producers was analyzed for production cost and efficiency. Pigs from these farrow-to-finish farms were typically "natural," meaning they were raised without antibiotics using bedded pens with outdoor access.
• Niche Pork Production Handbook, Iowa Pork Industry Center, Iowa State University Extension, 2007 - This online guide has nine sections and 30 subsections that cover such things as nutrition, managing cots, reproduction and genetics, production flow and pig husbandry.
• Returns and Costs of Niche Pork Production in 2007, Iowa State University, 2010 - Information from 27 niche pork producers was analyzed for return, cost and financial efficiency. Pigs from these farrow-to-finish farms were typically "natural," meaning they were raised without antibiotics using bedded pens with outdoor access.
• Returns and Costs of Niche Pork Production in 2008, Iowa State University, 2010 - Information from 18 niche pork producers was analyzed for return, cost and financial efficiency. Pigs from these farrow-to-finish farms were typically "natural," meaning they were raised without antibiotics using bedded pens with outdoor access.

Processing/Manufacturing

• American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) - Representing more than 1,300 small- and medium-sized meat, poultry and food businesses.
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Demonstration Plans, Iowa State University Meat Laboratory - These demonstration plans are tools available to guide plant and processing facilities with developing their own HACCP plans to comply with the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
• Labeling Procedures, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA.
• North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) - A nonprofit trade association that provides information and technical services to the meat processing industry.

 Businesses/Case Studies

• Eden Farms, State Center, Iowa - This coalition of independent family farmers established in 1998 is the largest American supplier of certified Berkshire pork. Eden Farms Berkshire hogs are raised in a healthy, environmentally friendly way. Eden Farms’ producers are committed to a strict code of responsible, humane husbandry.
• Gordito's Meats, Ogden, Utah - A group of Utah pork producers market Hispanic-style products to Mexican-Americans in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
• Vande Rose Farms LLC, Oskaloosa, Iowa - The farm was formed in 1999 from a base of three farm families: the Van Gilst, De Bruin and Rozenboom families. All are producers in Mahaska County. They trace roots and a bond back more than 150 years, when the first-settler families were immigrants from Holland.

Links checked July 2012.