Islanders have once again proved they have an appetite for supporting local.
This was the second year for PEI Porktoberfest, a month-long celebration of PEI pork presented in partnership with the Prince Edward Island Hog Producers, Hometown Pork, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, PEI Flavours, PEI Restaurant Association and Fresh Media.
The first year of Porktoberfest had sausages as the featured culinary dish, with 15 restaurants competing for the Best Chef title. This year, the featured dish switched to gourmet pulled pork sandwiches and saw the number of participating restaurants jump to 32 locations.
“After the first week, we were hearing that some restaurants were running out of ingredients, and producers were immediately seeing an increase in orders,” said Melody Dover, owner of Fresh Media, the Charlottetown marketing agency that came up with the idea for PEI Porktoberfest. “Overall, we’re thrilled with how much support we received from Islanders this year.”
The success of this year’s campaign is in the numbers. The inaugural PEI Porktoberfest sold 2,833 sausages. This year, there was a huge spike in sales with 12,975 sandwiches being sold. This resulted in 72,591 ounces, or 4,537 pounds of PEI pork being served up to Islanders in just 31 days.
“The Hog Board is very pleased with the increased awareness in PEI Porktoberfest and our local industry,” said Tim Seeber, manager of the PEI Hog Marketing Board. “We’re pleased to have stimulated local interest in pork through this campaign, and will continue to look at ways to promote our hard-working Island pork farmers.”
Combining the purchases of just the pork sandwiches this October, there was over $144,000 in sales. Traffic to the website grew close to five times as well.
“The department was pleased to invest in this campaign to help create more awareness about our high-quality Island pork,” said Agriculture and Forestry Minister George Webster. “Encouraging Islanders to buy more local pork supports our producers, our rural communities and our provincial economy.”
When the final votes were counted, “The Pudgy Piggy Pasty” pulled pork sandwich creators Kent Wilson and Philip Scales at The Old Triangle were the Best Chef winners. This very unique sandwich had cheddar and mozza cheese, sliced potatoes, sour cream, green onions, and bacon, with the PEI pulled pork smothered in more Jack Daniels sauce stuffed into a puff pastry.
The expanded campaign included restaurants from Georgetown, Montague, Morell, Stratford, Summerside, Long River, Charlottetown, as well as Mill River. Several of these restaurants had not had pulled pork on their menus previously.
“Now that so many Islanders have tasted the difference of PEI pork through this campaign, we certainly hope they’ll seek it out for their families and at home,” said Scott Dingwell, owner of Hometown Pork and a member of the PEI Hog Marketing Board. “Knowing where your food comes from and supporting local is always our overall goal.”