Price remains the primary barrier to consumers purchasing and consuming more bacon. Patrick Fleming, new business development manager at Midan Marketing, said that because of the price issue, consumers need constant reminders of their passion for bacon to overcome objections and give them permission to buy.

“Offering promotions is a great way to get consumers to interact with the category more frequently,” he said. “You can also keep bacon top of mind through in-store displays, point-of-sale materials and commercials that promote the value, flavor, flexibility and variety of bacon and encourage consumers’ impulses to indulge their love of bacon to reward you with greater sales.”

The growing consumer interest in humane animal care and transparency offers stores and suppliers a great opportunity for storytelling in marketing, said J.D. Enrici, vice president sales and marketing at Coleman Natural Food.

“People are interested in where their food comes from and, now more than ever, there is an opportunity for educating consumers on terms like natural, humanely raised, and vegetarian-fed,” he said.

With the category, sharing recipes and suggesting new ways to use bacon are really great ways to engage in marketing in this space.

“The imagery of savory and sweet bacon recipes can be very inspirational to consumers and drive purchase,” said Gina Gancheva, director of brand management for Applegate. “At Applegate, we connect with retailers to provide imagery and recipes that can be shared online, in circulars or anywhere that is helpful to the consumer.”

Another savvy way to successfully market bacon in store is by sampling. After all, the smell of bacon cooking is enough to get any bacon lover to pick up a package.

“Applegate has long believed that getting consumers to try our clean, delicious products is all it takes to make them fans of the brand,” Gancheva said. “We have talked to so many incredible consumers about this — from the passionate, daily consumer to the foodie who uses bacon in a hundred different ways. At the core, they all said the same thing: bacon is an experience. It is delicious, delectable and comforting. For many, it’s reminiscent of home and easy weekend mornings. It evokes emotion and, in the end, bacon is so much more than just food.”