- Americans are eating less pork than they are beef and chicken, researchers say.
- Demand for pork in United States is down 9% from 20 years ago.
Farmers are producing more bacon than Americans can stuff in their mouths.
Demand for pork in the United States is down 9% from 20 years ago, researchers from Kansas State University estimate, according to The Wall Street Journal. Production, meanwhile, is up 25%. That means producers now have more pork than they can sell, the report says.
The National Pork Board, which provides consumer information and industry research about pork, estimates that annual pork consumption will drop by another 2.2 pounds per capita over the next 10 years if more young people do not start eating the meat.
"We need to make pork relevant with the future consumer," senior vice president for market growth for the National Pork Board told the Journal.
The Pork Board is sponsoring targeted local ads to increase interest in the meat across the country. In Houston, residents scrolling through Instagram might see an ad with instructions for making Mexican pozole, the report says.
Major companies like Tyson lost millions last year on their pork products. And farmers lost about $30 per hog, researchers at Iowa State University estimated, according to the report.
With consumption declining, some companies like Tyson hope marketing products with shorter meal prep times will attract more consumers.
Tyson CEO Donnie King told the Journal that the company is "trying to make meal prep easier' by producing more lunch meat items like ham steaks.
Tyson also opened a $355 million plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky in January that plans to produce more bacon products for its Wright and Jimmy Dean brands," King told the outlet.