The purpose of the PorkBrand project is to support branding of Danish pork meat in China by providing knowledge about how Chinese consumers form brand images and develop preferences for pork brands across sales channels, identify the pros and cons for different branding strategies and come up with recommendations for cooperation strategies with Chinese stakeholders. The short-term aim is to improve the basis for decisions on export strategies for Danish pork meat, so that Chinese consumers will establish preferences and a willingness to pay a premium. The longer-term aim is to continue the growth of Danish export of pork meat to China based on stable preferences among the Chinese consumers.

The background for the project is that China has become an important market for Danish pork meat. Even though China has the world’s biggest production of pork meat, domestic production cannot keep up with the demand. Hence, import of pork meat in China has been increasing. Chinese consumers have more trust in imported meat than in domestically produced pork meat, and consumers are willing to pay a price premium. Therefore, branding of pork meat to the end-consumer can increase the revenue and the sales of Danish pork meat in China.

To secure continued sales growth of Danish pork meat in the Chinese market and to secure a first mover advantage, it is crucial that the Danish pork sector has access to knowledge about which branding strategies for imported pork meat are most suitable in the Chinese market. At the same time, sales channels in the Chinese market are developing rapidly, providing consumers with many channels (such as super markets, wet markets, online and food service) and it is important to know how to successfully manage multi-channel branding.

The project has five work packages:

WP1: Mapping present and potential sales channels (2019) (download WP1 report)

• Mapping of present and potential sales channels (retail, food service, online)
• Visiting physical stores and desk research on online stores
• Mapping branding activities and strategies

WP2: How do Chinese consumers form brand images of pork (2019) (download WP2 report)

• Degree of consumer contact with different channels, other forms of brand contact, e.g. on social media (Weibo, Wechat etc.)
• Do consumer brand images depend on sales channel used
• Synergies and conflicts between channels
• Focus groups
• Online consumer survey

WP3: Mapping of Chinese stakeholders’ motivation and competence to cooperate on branding (2019-2020) (download WP3 report)

• Branding strategies preferred by actors, barriers for implementing branding strategies
• Interviews with decision-makers in Chinese intermediaries based on branding scenarios
• 10 interviews per channel type

WP4: How to optimize branding strategies (2020) (download WP4 report)

• Name, logo, message, different forms of interaction with the end user
• Experimental studies with target groups derived from WP2

WP5: Recommendations on branding strategies (2020) (download WP5 report)

All reports for the different work packages will be published. The results will be accessible for all and will be available for at least five years. 

The Porkbrand project started January 2019 and is funded by Svineafgiftsfonden. It is led by Klaus G. Grunert with participation of Hanne Kragh, Karen Brunsø, Stephan Zielke, Maartje Mulders and Susanne Pedersen.