Let customers take produce for a test drive

When I was in high school, I worked for a mall cheese store whose cornerstone marketing technique was sampling. Along the counters were stations armed with an open package of cheese, crackers broken into small pieces, and a knife so that we could offer customers a tiny taste of featured products. On slow nights, we’d wheel a butcher block table out to the store’s opening on the mall and cut a 50 pound block of cheese into half-pound pieces, all the while offering samples to passersby.

This was Sales 101: attract the customer’s attention with activity, pique their interest by engaging them in conversation about the product and close the deal by giving them a taste, thereby convincing them – through their tastebuds – that they must have the product.

This technique works for produce just as well as for cheese. Recent research by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) that explored what makes consumers decide to buy fresh produce has found that taste remains the top purchase influencer. Taste was the key factor in all regions of the U.S. as well as among men and women.

According to PMA President Bryan Silbermann, the challenge for produce marketers is to offer shoppers new flavors and textures to engage their senses. “As marketers, our focus should go beyond getting produce from ‘seed to store’ and be devoted toward getting fruits and vegetables ‘from seed to stomach.’ The way to do that is to consistently deliver a flavorful and memorable experience,” said Silbermann.

Customers might be reluctant to try a new apple variety without knowing what it tastes like. If you run a retail store, you no doubt have seen shoppers sneak a taste of small fruits and veggies like grapes or green beans but most are not going to bite into an apple in the store unless they have paid for it. So why not help them along with their buying decision by offering them a small slice of that new variety.

In another PMA consumer survey, consumers said that they would be much more likely to purchase produce if samples were offered. Interestingly the percentage of consumers who would be more likely to buy if samples were offered was greatest in the Northeast at 67 percent.

Hands-on marketing is even gaining a foot-hold at the ultimate advertising event: the Super Bowl. According to a Wall Street Journal article, marketers were more interested in the 83,000 people attending the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla, than the estimated 88 million viewers at home. Companies like Motorola and Campbell Soup did not spend the $2.4 million to buy a 30-second network advertising spot during the game but instead had representatives near the stadium enticing potential consumers with new products. Campbell’s planned to give away 100,000 tastes of chili and soup to hungry tailgaters.

And using taste as a sales technique isn’t limited to selling to retail customers; it works just as well with wholesale buyers too. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to attend a food trade show, you know that they are all about sampling. If you find yourself headed to Chicago for the annual Food Marketing Institute’s Supermarket Industry Convention, for example, don’t worry too much about dining out. You’ll be quite full when you leave the show floor. All those tiny samples add up.

If you do decide to sample produce in your farmstand, at a farmers’ market or at a trade show, be sure to give some thought to health considerations. The town board of health may their own food handling regulations with which you must comply. Also, PMA has guidelines that they provide to their trade show exhibitors, and which can be easily adapted you’re your purposes. The guidelines are available on-line at www.pma.com.

When you think about it, you wouldn’t buy a car without taking a test drive, and you usually don’t buy clothes without trying them on. Fruits and veggies aren’t so different…they just taste a whole lot better.

Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the March 2005 issue of Growing magazine.