Pork Checkoff Goes for Brats Promotion

September 8, 2000

The pork checkoff, Johnsonville® Brats and McDonald’s are involved in a new promotional campaign that is expected to generate 500,000 pounds of pork sales in McDonald’s restaurants this fall. In addition to bacon, brats and sausages are among the fastest-growing items on restaurant menus. The growth has spurred a 17% increase in the amount of pork served in restaurants during the past three years.

Demand for bacon, alone, has generated approximately $541 million in additional value for pork during the first seven months of 2000, compared to the same period in 1999. "The promotion will increase consumer awareness of the versatility and variety of pork," says Steve Schmeichel, a Hurley, SD, pork producer and chair of the NPPC's Demand Enhancement Committee. "Many of the consumers who purchase brats during the promotion will expand their pork consumption to include other pork items at restaurants as well as in meals prepared at home."

Six hundred McDonald's restaurants throughout Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin are taking part in the checkoff-supported promotion during the first two-weeks of September, and Oct. 6 through Nov. 23. The new offering capitalizes on the success of a similar promotion in the fall of 1999 when 1,800 McDonald’s restaurants served more than 800,000 pounds of Johnsonville Brats. The Johnsonville Brats-McDonald’s promotion represents the latest in a series of recent checkoff-funded, fast food successes.

McDonald's McRib® continues to be featured as a limited-time offering and has spurred the development of a new sandwich, the McRib Jr. McDonald's also is working on an initiative to add bacon to sandwiches upon request. This has been tested and is expanding, according to checkoff officials.

Burger King®, the nation’s second-largest quick-service restaurant, introduced two chicken club-style sandwiches in July that feature bacon. "Consumers are telling us they love bacon on their sandwiches," says Derek Correia, vice president, USA product marketing for Burger King. Burger King also recently introduced its "Country Pork Sandwich" to more than 600 Midwest stores with checkoff-funded promotional support.