May

May 9-11 - Wichita River Festival, Wichita, Kan.  

May 15-18 - Memphis in May BBQ Battle, Memphis, Tenn.

May 24-25 - Taste of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

May 30 - June 1 - River Splash, Milwaukee, Wis.

June

June 5-8 - Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago, Ill.

June 13-15 - Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.

June 21-22 - 16th Annual Safeway BBQ Battle, Washington, D.C.

June 28-29 - Manayunk Arts Festival, Manayunk, Pa.

July

July 3-6 - Boston Harborfest, Boston, Mass.

July 12-13 - Taste of Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.

July 16-20 - Ann Arbor Arts Festival, Ann Arbor, Mich.

July 25-27 - NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Indianapolis, Ind.

August

August 1-3 - Kimball Art Fair, Park City, Utah

August 5-9 - Hot August Nights, Reno, Nev.

August 15-17 - California State Fair, Sacramento, Calif.

August 29 - September 1 - Taste of Colorado, Denver, Colo.

September

September 4-7 - Yellow Daisy Festival, Stone Mountain, Ga.

September 11-14 - LPGA Bell Micro Classic, Mobile, Ala.

September 20-21 - Old Pecan Street Festival, Austin, Texas

September 26-28 - State Fair of Texas, Dallas, Texas

October

October 3-5 - OktoberFest, Tempe, Ariz.

October 9-12 - Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, Albuquerque, N.M.

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Minnesota pork producers prepare pork samples

and meet with consumers at the Boston Harborfest  and Taste of Buffalo

The Other White Meat Tour reached the halfway mark in July, attracting new pork consumers and exceeding expectations along its route across the United States.

The high profile pork promotion is stopping at 22 prominent consumer events in 20 states from May through October. The selected events attract large crowds of pork’s target audience; females ages 25 to 49 who want to be better cooks and who have kids in the home.

Research shows that consumers want to have a positive product experience before making a purchase. The Pork Checkoff-funded The Other White Meat Tour facilitates consumers’ positive experience through pork samplings, one on-one visits with pork producers, cooking demonstrations, interactive exhibits featuring recipes, and pork-themed-games complete with prizes.

The Other White Meat Tour’s success hinges on state pork associations sending producers to work at these events and to speak with consumers who visit the exhibit site. To meet these objectives, the Minnesota Pork Board took part in the Boston Harborfest, Boston, Mass., and the Taste of Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y., and Minnesota producers will work at an event later this summer.

The focal point of The Other White Meat Tour events are a customized truck and trailer with bright, eye-appealing pork graphics. The F450 diesel truck pulls the 40-foot Featherlite trailer to each new venue. After arriving at the tour stop, workers expand the trailer into a full-sized, fully-enclosed stainless steel kitchen with a serving window and a hydraulically operated stage. Picnic tables near the stage provide seating during the pork cooking demonstrations.

Once the trailer is setup and operational, consumers sample freshly grilled boneless pork loin, learn more about pork through various activities, and mill around pork exhibits that feature recipe cards and materials emphasizing pork’s nutritional attributes.

More than a million consumer impressions have been recorded since the tour’s start in May at the Wichita River Festival in Kansas through the NASCAR Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis, Ind., at the end of July. The Other White Meat Tour will make 11 more stops before wrapping up the season at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, Albuquerque, N.M. in October.

Minnesota pork producers volunteering their time at the Taste of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. witnessed 470,000 people set attendance records and reported very positive responses from visitors to the pork exhibit.

Montgomery, Minn., pork producer Karen Richter, who worked at the New York event and who serves on the National Pork Board, says the combination of pork samples, entertaining activities, the aroma of grilling pork, and volunteers wearing “Bring it Tong” shirts attracts people to the pork area.

“Pork’s presence at these large events definitely gets noticed,” Richter said.

The Other White Meat Tour also includes grocery store pork promotions, radio advertising and events incorporating local chefs and media.

“The many approaches of this pork promotion should positively impact domestic pork expenditures and generate new pork consumers,” Richter said.

The National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff hired the company Marketing Werks to carry out The Other White Meat Tour. Marketing Werks has executed similar mobile marketing campaigns for Hershey’s, Char-Broil, Verizon and Chevrolet.

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