Growing local food is a farmer’s everyday job, and it’s also a major buying decision for certain commodities, including meat. Ontario Pork’s fledgling branding campaign capitalizes on this. The campaign clearly and simply identifies Ontario-produced pork, and it’s having a growth spurt: Earlier this month, Ontario Pork and Loblaws®, Zehrs®, valu-mart® and Your Independent Grocer® stores in Ontario announced Ontario-grown and processed pork products in close to 300 stores across the province will start being identified by Ontario Pork labels on product packaging and through flyer advertising.
Kevin Mosser, Ontario Pork retail and food service marketing specialist, attributes the increased interest in part to the rising price of beef, which has consumers wanting to incorporate pork into their meals more often. Mosser says this factor, combined with the growing interest of shoppers and diners to support the local economy, presents an opportunity to promote the efforts of Ontario farmers – after all, 98 per cent of hog farms are family owned and operated, and have long been associated with community support. Pork producers are among the most committed sponsors of research. They’re progressive farmers and they have a tradition of staying ahead of the curve.
That’s what Ontario Pork is doing with this new campaign: trying to give retail and food service partners an opportunity to promote and support locally raised pork, which may not always be obvious. “It can understandably be daunting at the grocery store for consumers to know where the pork they are buying comes from,” says Mosser.”With this point-of-sale campaign, consumers can feel comfortable knowing that products carrying the Ontario pork label have been raised by a local farmer.”
Similar to the familiar Foodland Ontario logo, consumers can now easily identify Ontario pork products.
