Fleming to lead domestic pork demand work

National Pork Board welcomes Patrick Fleming as vice president of demand development. In his new role, Fleming will lead the marketing and domestic demand team on a revolutionary, data-driven approach to make pork more relevant to more Americans. His return to NPB coincides with the culmination of an 18-month effort funded by the Pork Checkoff to develop and deploy new consumer market research and insights across the pork industry.

“The pork industry needs to unapologetically claim the position of taste and flavor for both fresh and further processed product,” said Fleming. “With the help of Checkoff-developed consumer market research, we will leverage our strengths of cultural relevancy, affordability and versatility, providing a framework to our supply chain to win bigger under the umbrella of a new consumer strategy.”

Fleming and his team will focus on developing a consumer-facing campaign designed to win more hearts and minds for pork, in particular Millennial and Gen Z Americans, whose consumption of pork continues to decline.

“To reposition pork in the marketplace and with younger Americans, adoption of an industry-wide approach to reaching consumers with a unified message for pork is needed to inevitably change the perception Millennials and Gen Z have of pork,” said Fleming. “The goal of this work is to encourage Americans to fall in love with pork. I can’t think of a better reason to come to work every day; it’s a big part of why I am thrilled to return to NPB.”

“Our domestic demand efforts will be led by one of the best in the business,” said David Newman, senior vice president of market growth for NPB. “With decades of ‘farm-to-plate’ experience in sales and marketing, Patrick is passionate about this industry and excited to work on behalf of producers. He brings energy and momentum to the team and the work we have ahead of us; there is no one better qualified to lead the charge in making pork relatable to consumers in key markets.”

Through the creation and launch of a sophisticated new market segmentation and business tool, NPB Consumer Connect, the new campaign to be developed can be implemented across the food value chain.

“This consumer strategy is already being tailored by stakeholders and their individual businesses and brands as needed and appropriate for them,” said Fleming. “It allows the entire pork industry to more efficiently and consistently reach specific consumer groups with the right message and content for them at the right time and place.”

Fleming will guide his nine-member team day-to-day on priorities related to consumer demand, multicultural marketing, foodservice and retail support, packer/processor collaboration and human nutrition strategies for NPB with input and direction from the producer-led board of directors.