For many people, preparing a whole ham is one of their go-to choices for family gatherings on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, but beyond holidays, whole ham usually doesn’t make the shopping list. As such, the pork checkoff recently funded a study to find and eliminate barriers that are stopping consumers from enjoying whole hams year-round.

“Holidays and ham go hand in hand for most consumers, and with new ham innovations, there are real opportunities to increase sales throughout the year,” National Pork Board president Jan Archer said.

Six focus groups were held across the country in Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill., and Orange County, Cal., to gather input from both “foodies” and non-foodies. Additionally, 1,100 consumers completed an online survey.

The findings clearly showed that taste issues are not what is holding back non-holiday whole-ham purchases, with the protein viewed as a savored meat. Many focus group participants became animated and engaged in conversations about preparing and consuming ham. Many described their enjoyment of leftover ham as an important part of the whole-ham experience.

“What I love (about leftovers) is that late-night thing where you’re hungry and you go to the refrigerator and just get a slice of ham and eat it standing there. … That is the best,” one participant said.

While enthusiastic about whole hams, consumers in the focus groups and the online surveys feel like it is for the holidays. This matches whole-ham consumer consumption data from previous years, according to Patrick Fleming, director of market intelligence and innovation for the pork checkoff.

When asked, most respondents could not recall seeing whole hams in supermarkets outside of the typical ham holidays. They also did not recall seeing any summer ham promotions in their grocery store.

“To me, ham is a cold-weather comfort food, but I have also never thought about grilling it,” another respondent said. “Ham seems to be only available around Easter and Christmas.”

“The bottom line is that the issue is not with hams but instead is with how whole hams are marketed – or not marketed – outside of holiday seasons,” Fleming said. “When consumers don’t see it in stores, there’s an out-of-sight/out-of-mind mentality.”

The good news is that this presents new opportunities to grow the total pork category in sales and volume at the meat case, Fleming said.

Some of the insights include:

“New ham innovations in supermarket meat cases are helping introduce whole ham to a new generation of consumers,” Archer said. “Pork checkoff will continue to work with our retail food partners to encourage whole-ham promotions throughout the year.”