In the past twenty years or so, the number of so-called “eco-labels” used for marketing earth-friendly or people-friendly food and fiber products has mushroomed. While the most widely-known eco-label today might be the federal organic label, there are numerous others that have appeared on the scene and, in some cases, disappeared just as quickly.
Which raises the question: do eco-labels really sell products? And that fundamental question leads to even more. Do consumers look for these labels? Do they understand what they mean? And do these labels help growers carve out a niche for themselves but hurt other growers in the process?
It seems like there’s an eco-label for just about every possible issue facing modern agriculture. Beyond organic, there are labels for sustainable agriculture, integrated pest management, no genetic engineering, animal welfare, and social responsibility (which stretches the “eco” concept just a bit).
Eco-labels have been established and promoted by a wide variety of government agencies, non-profit organizations and private businesses. But all are based on the premise that consumers would choose to buy environmentally-friendly products if only they could identify them.
That puts a lot of pressure to perform on a little sticker. The consumer has to know what the little ladybug or apple tree or blue ribbon symbolizes. And if words, phrases or acronyms are included, the consumer has to understand what they stand for and why they should care.
Take a concept like integrated pest management, for example. IPM is a complex system of pest management practices that may include monitoring, cultural controls, biological controls, mechanical controls and possibly chemical controls. How do you convey all that on a half inch label?
If you’re designing the label you have to boil it all down to a simple picture, word or phrase and hope that the basic meaning gets across. And you have to have a public education campaign and informational resources to support it.
Perhaps because there are so many eco-labels around today touting such an array of complicated concepts, the Consumers Union has a website (www.eco-labels.org) devoted to informing the public about what each label means, the standards on which it is based and who is behind it.
Each label referenced on the site has a report card that assesses the meaningfulness of the label and a detailed description of what it means, the history behind it, the organization that promotes it, and where you can find it.
After you do a little searching on the site you’ll likely be amazed at just how many eco-labels are out there. Although some labels have come and gone, the fact that there are still so many might be a clue that they are working for some growers and organizations.
If you’re a grower contemplating getting into a program that would allow you to use an eco-label, you might have some conflicting feelings about it. By telling consumers that your products are grown with fewer pesticides, are you just alerting them to the fact that you use pesticides at all? Or are you portraying yourself as the “good farmer” and your neighbor as the “bad farmer” if his or her products don’t bear the eco-label?
Some growers who practice IPM or are certified organic or install conservation practices do so because they feel it’s the right thing to do, not to get a marketing edge. But if you’re doing good things, why not tell the public about it?
For what it’s worth, a study on eco-labels by Iowa State University showed that while most consumers understood the eco-labels that they were shown, they were most responsive to labels with the least about of information. Consumers were also most responsive to those labels that conveyed a message about local produce and freshness as opposed to labels with an environmental risk context.
Like anything else in marketing, the decision to use an eco-label or not goes back to knowing your customer. If with a little research you find that your customers are informed on agricultural practices and care enough about environmental risk factors to base their buying decisions on them, then eco-labeling might be right for you.
Otherwise, just reminding folks that your produce is locally grown and fresher might be the only marketing edge that you need.
Copyright Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the March 2006 issue of Growing Magazine.
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Guerrilla Marketing: What is it? Does it really work?
There are two well-known marketing and public relations books with similar titles: Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson and Guerrilla P.R. by Michael Levin. Both give readers advice on using unconventional, low-cost tactics in marketing products and gaining visibility for small businesses.
In fact, the concept has evidently been so successful that since Guerrilla Marketing was first published in 1984, Levinson has written a number of spin-off books including Guerrilla Advertising, Guerrilla Marketing for Free, Guerrilla Marketing Weapons, The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, Guerrilla Publicity, and Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.
But do these unconventional tactics really work? In particular, do they work for agricultural businesses?
In my past job with the state ag department, I worked on quite a few promotions that employed what might be called guerrilla marketing tactics. Or maybe you would call them publicity stunts. Take your pick.
One time, for example, a coworker and I put together baskets of farmers' market produce and brought them to Boston area radio stations. The basket included a statewide listing of farmers' markets. One popular rock music station invited us right into the studio, the DJs put us on the air and we were able to plug visiting local farmers' markets during the growing season.
Another time, we did a promotion for local maple products that involved sending an information packet, recipes and a small sample of maple syrup to food writers at daily newspapers. That effort did result in several maple stories in newspaper food sections.
Working with various associations over the years, there have been promotions that involved delivering squash, potatoes, cut flowers, poinsettias, and coffee cake to food editors, business editors, radio stations and television studios. There have been tomato contests, cider taste-offs, zucchini races, pumpkin carvings, corn boils, giant strawberry shortcakes, farm-to-farm bike rides, and all kinds of farm tours.
While many of these efforts have been fruitful in terms of generating publicity and in turn, hopefully, sales for farms, sometimes they're not. While guerrilla tactics are usually low cost, they are often require a lot more work than, say, conventional advertising. If successful, the pay-off can be great, but if not you might be left wondering why you went to all that trouble.
A few things to keep in mind:
1. You're competing with many other businesses and organizations for the attention of the news media and the public. Find a way to make your product stand out and don't get discouraged; be persistent but don't over-do it.
2. When sending product samples to reporters and editors, make sure that they are just samples. Some media organizations have policies against accepting gifts that could be construed as bribes in exchange for coverage. You just want them to have a little taste of your product for evaluation purposes.
3. Showing up at a radio station, especially without an appointment, doesn't guarantee that you'll get on the air. They may just thank you for stopping by and for your product sample and information. Don't be too disappointed or angry; the effort may pay off later on.
4. Sometimes radio and television stations tie appearances on certain programs to advertising. So, if you're not an advertiser, you might not get on. This doesn't apply to news, though.
And sometimes publicity stunts can go wrong. Earlier this year a popular juice company was introducing a new line of frozen juice pops. To get publicity, they created what they hoped would be certified by Guinness as the world's largest frozen pop and planned to erect it in New York City's Union Square on the first day of summer. As it turned out, it was a hot day and the pop started to melt, sending sticky goo all over Union Square. Pedestrians and cyclists started slipping and sliding in it, and a woman was taken to the hospital with a sprained ankle.
That stunt may not qualify as strict guerrilla P.R. since it surely cost quite a bit to stage but is an example of an unconventional tactic that certainly did generate news coverage...perhaps more than if the thing had remained frozen.
Maybe you've been involved in these kinds of guerrilla activities, too, on your farm or through an association. I'd be willing to wager that farmers are particularly adept at guerrilla marketing and publicity tactics because of their natural ingenuity, a need to keep costs down and products that are well suited to this approach. After all, fresh farm products can be fun, wholesome, nostalgic, unusual, trendy, beautiful and always tasty. Which make for irresistible combinations.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
In fact, the concept has evidently been so successful that since Guerrilla Marketing was first published in 1984, Levinson has written a number of spin-off books including Guerrilla Advertising, Guerrilla Marketing for Free, Guerrilla Marketing Weapons, The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, Guerrilla Publicity, and Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.
But do these unconventional tactics really work? In particular, do they work for agricultural businesses?
In my past job with the state ag department, I worked on quite a few promotions that employed what might be called guerrilla marketing tactics. Or maybe you would call them publicity stunts. Take your pick.
One time, for example, a coworker and I put together baskets of farmers' market produce and brought them to Boston area radio stations. The basket included a statewide listing of farmers' markets. One popular rock music station invited us right into the studio, the DJs put us on the air and we were able to plug visiting local farmers' markets during the growing season.
Another time, we did a promotion for local maple products that involved sending an information packet, recipes and a small sample of maple syrup to food writers at daily newspapers. That effort did result in several maple stories in newspaper food sections.
Working with various associations over the years, there have been promotions that involved delivering squash, potatoes, cut flowers, poinsettias, and coffee cake to food editors, business editors, radio stations and television studios. There have been tomato contests, cider taste-offs, zucchini races, pumpkin carvings, corn boils, giant strawberry shortcakes, farm-to-farm bike rides, and all kinds of farm tours.
While many of these efforts have been fruitful in terms of generating publicity and in turn, hopefully, sales for farms, sometimes they're not. While guerrilla tactics are usually low cost, they are often require a lot more work than, say, conventional advertising. If successful, the pay-off can be great, but if not you might be left wondering why you went to all that trouble.
A few things to keep in mind:
1. You're competing with many other businesses and organizations for the attention of the news media and the public. Find a way to make your product stand out and don't get discouraged; be persistent but don't over-do it.
2. When sending product samples to reporters and editors, make sure that they are just samples. Some media organizations have policies against accepting gifts that could be construed as bribes in exchange for coverage. You just want them to have a little taste of your product for evaluation purposes.
3. Showing up at a radio station, especially without an appointment, doesn't guarantee that you'll get on the air. They may just thank you for stopping by and for your product sample and information. Don't be too disappointed or angry; the effort may pay off later on.
4. Sometimes radio and television stations tie appearances on certain programs to advertising. So, if you're not an advertiser, you might not get on. This doesn't apply to news, though.
And sometimes publicity stunts can go wrong. Earlier this year a popular juice company was introducing a new line of frozen juice pops. To get publicity, they created what they hoped would be certified by Guinness as the world's largest frozen pop and planned to erect it in New York City's Union Square on the first day of summer. As it turned out, it was a hot day and the pop started to melt, sending sticky goo all over Union Square. Pedestrians and cyclists started slipping and sliding in it, and a woman was taken to the hospital with a sprained ankle.
That stunt may not qualify as strict guerrilla P.R. since it surely cost quite a bit to stage but is an example of an unconventional tactic that certainly did generate news coverage...perhaps more than if the thing had remained frozen.
Maybe you've been involved in these kinds of guerrilla activities, too, on your farm or through an association. I'd be willing to wager that farmers are particularly adept at guerrilla marketing and publicity tactics because of their natural ingenuity, a need to keep costs down and products that are well suited to this approach. After all, fresh farm products can be fun, wholesome, nostalgic, unusual, trendy, beautiful and always tasty. Which make for irresistible combinations.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Product proliferation: When is consumer choice enough?
Anyone who has shopped for toothpaste in the past twenty years has probably felt more and more overwhelmed by the number of choices within all the major brands. In the old days, each manufacturer offered one or two flavor choices. Now there's toothpaste for cavity protection, tartar control, whitening, plaque protection, gingivitis protection, breath freshening and sensitive teeth.
You can choose your ingredients - baking soda, peroxide, and fluoride - as well as the texture - paste, gel or a combination. Then there are the flavors: fresh cool mint, fresh clean mint, icy blast, cinnamon spice, vanilla mint, mint zing, spearmint and sparkling mint. All of those are actual choices offered by just one brand.
The technical term for this marketing phenomenon is horizontal product line extension. This is when marketers expand their product offerings within the same category, price and quality range but vary other attributes such as color, fragrance or flavor. Vertical line extension is when marketers vary their offerings in terms of price or quality. Athletic shoes are a good example, or, in the food sector, you might recall that a major soup company offers tomato soup in different packages at different prices.
Horizontal line extension is not limited to toothpaste. Among food products you'll find it in products ranging from cola to coffee to pasta and even to milk. And it's certainly nothing new to farm produce marketing.
In fact you've probably extended your line over the years. How many varieties of apples, tomatoes, sweet corn, or peppers do you sell now compared to ten or twenty years ago? I wouldn't be surprised if it's more.
In agriculture, there's a ripple effect in line extension. As researchers develop new varieties, the seed companies offer more varieties, and farmers can in turn offer more varieties. Apples might be the most prolific in terms of varieties with differing attributes, but tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins are catching up.
Marketing experts who study product proliferation believe that there is a maximum number of choices that consumers will tolerate before they give up and switch to another brand with a simpler product line. If you've ever felt dismayed when trying to select a toothpaste or diet cola, you know what they mean.
The rationale behind extending a product line is to retain customers by offering more choice. According to research by business professors at Stanford and Northwestern universities offering new and unusual products can also result in a brief sales spike due to consumer curiosity.
For both reasons, offering more consumer choice makes sense as a marketing tool for farmers. If customers have more choices when buying from you, they won't have to go elsewhere to find a particular variety. And a new or unusual variety will pique customer interest, giving your bottom line a boost and drawing them in to buy your more conventional items.
The Stanford/Northwestern research determined mathematically, that there is a point at which it's no longer financially sound for a manufacturer to continue to expand a product line because of the costs of new product development. Vegetable and fruit growers have a slight advantage in being able to test a variety on a small amount of acreage.
But are farm marketers even close to maxing out and stressing out their customers with too many choices? I would say no, as long as customers have information on the attributes of each variety and how best to use them.
I think that consumers are intrigued by different and unusual produce varieties. After all, unlike toothpaste manufacturers who only have to find different ways to combine ingredients, agricultural researchers must figure out ways to make a tree or a plant produce a product that looks or tastes different. That makes a new sweet corn variety so much more interesting and impressive than a new kind of cola.
So, go ahead, try that new variety and offer it along with the old standbys to give your customers more choice. Add some supporting signage or flyers so they know what to expect and it's likely to be a recipe for marketing success.
This article first appeared in the August 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Copyright 2007 Diane Baedeker Petit
You can choose your ingredients - baking soda, peroxide, and fluoride - as well as the texture - paste, gel or a combination. Then there are the flavors: fresh cool mint, fresh clean mint, icy blast, cinnamon spice, vanilla mint, mint zing, spearmint and sparkling mint. All of those are actual choices offered by just one brand.
The technical term for this marketing phenomenon is horizontal product line extension. This is when marketers expand their product offerings within the same category, price and quality range but vary other attributes such as color, fragrance or flavor. Vertical line extension is when marketers vary their offerings in terms of price or quality. Athletic shoes are a good example, or, in the food sector, you might recall that a major soup company offers tomato soup in different packages at different prices.
Horizontal line extension is not limited to toothpaste. Among food products you'll find it in products ranging from cola to coffee to pasta and even to milk. And it's certainly nothing new to farm produce marketing.
In fact you've probably extended your line over the years. How many varieties of apples, tomatoes, sweet corn, or peppers do you sell now compared to ten or twenty years ago? I wouldn't be surprised if it's more.
In agriculture, there's a ripple effect in line extension. As researchers develop new varieties, the seed companies offer more varieties, and farmers can in turn offer more varieties. Apples might be the most prolific in terms of varieties with differing attributes, but tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins are catching up.
Marketing experts who study product proliferation believe that there is a maximum number of choices that consumers will tolerate before they give up and switch to another brand with a simpler product line. If you've ever felt dismayed when trying to select a toothpaste or diet cola, you know what they mean.
The rationale behind extending a product line is to retain customers by offering more choice. According to research by business professors at Stanford and Northwestern universities offering new and unusual products can also result in a brief sales spike due to consumer curiosity.
For both reasons, offering more consumer choice makes sense as a marketing tool for farmers. If customers have more choices when buying from you, they won't have to go elsewhere to find a particular variety. And a new or unusual variety will pique customer interest, giving your bottom line a boost and drawing them in to buy your more conventional items.
The Stanford/Northwestern research determined mathematically, that there is a point at which it's no longer financially sound for a manufacturer to continue to expand a product line because of the costs of new product development. Vegetable and fruit growers have a slight advantage in being able to test a variety on a small amount of acreage.
But are farm marketers even close to maxing out and stressing out their customers with too many choices? I would say no, as long as customers have information on the attributes of each variety and how best to use them.
I think that consumers are intrigued by different and unusual produce varieties. After all, unlike toothpaste manufacturers who only have to find different ways to combine ingredients, agricultural researchers must figure out ways to make a tree or a plant produce a product that looks or tastes different. That makes a new sweet corn variety so much more interesting and impressive than a new kind of cola.
So, go ahead, try that new variety and offer it along with the old standbys to give your customers more choice. Add some supporting signage or flyers so they know what to expect and it's likely to be a recipe for marketing success.
This article first appeared in the August 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Copyright 2007 Diane Baedeker Petit
Monday, May 28, 2007
Ride the multicultural marketing wave
Marketing to targeted ethnic groups has become a major focus of the food retailing industry in general and has great potential for fruit and vegetable growers in particular. The topic has warranted its own track of educational sessions at food marketing industry conventions and experts say that it is one of the most important growth areas in retail food sales.
The market segments that are growing rapidly across the nation are the Hispanic, African American, and Asian communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic and Asian people in the U.S. will triple by 2050.
In a 2003 report, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) said that over the next two decades, the Hispanic population is expected to grow by 1.2 million annually, compared with annual increases of 500,000 among non-Hispanic Whites and 400,000 each among Blacks and Asians. Hispanics are expected to increase from 12.6 percent of the population in 2000 to 18 percent in 2020, and Asians are expected to increase from four percent to five percent.
ERS pointed out that growing ethnic diversity has contributed to shifts in food preferences as well as expansion of the food repertoire for all Americans. The agency suggests that to profit from this diversity, U.S. food suppliers must be both aware of the differing preferences of ethnic groups and able to creatively tap into Americans' love of novel taste experiences.
And in promoting a recent educational seminar, the Food Marketing Institute similarly stated that ethnic consumers not only comprise an increasingly formidable consumer market, but are also re-shaping the nation's palate through the growing demand for ethnic foods.
The folks at UMass Extension caught on to this trend a number of years ago and have been helping Massachusetts growers find crops typically grown in Latin American and Asian countries that will also grow in the Bay State, despite the shorter growing season. Local growers have been growing crops like ají dulce (a small light green pepper) and calabaza (a type of squash), then marketing them through farmers' markets, farmstands and grocery stores in areas with large Hispanic communities like Holyoke, Lawrence and Lowell.
In fact, UMass Extension has created a website in collaboration with Cornell and Rutgers to help northeast growers find vegetables, fruit and herbs that are in demand by local ethnic communities. The site, www.worldcrops.org, has crop information organized by region - Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe - and by country within those regions, to help growers target specific markets. Included is production information, seed sources, nutrition information and references.
Components of a successful multicultural marketing program, according to Denyse Selesnick of International Trade Information, Inc. in a presentation to food marketers, include knowing the ethnic make-up of your area, learning their food preferences, advertising in their language(s) in publications for their community, doing special promotions around ethnic holidays, and hiring a diverse staff who can relate to these customers.
On the worldcrops.org website, Frank Mangan of the UMass Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, reminds growers to be aware that crops can have different names in different countries and languages, and to label produce appropriately. He also offers marketing tips concerning price and appearance. The best way to research preferences and other considerations, he says, is to visit markets that serve ethnic communities in the area.
According to the Produce Marketing Association, Hispanic consumers average 4.6 grocery trips per week, in contrast to 2.2 trips for non-Hispanic consumers in the United States. The primary reason for that is a strong preference for fresh, high quality fruits and vegetables. That's good news for local growers, who can offer fresh produce just in from the field.
For your customers who are not part of these specific ethnic communities but who are looking for that novel taste experience, be sure to have some recipes and background information on hand.
So, with diverse markets already close at hand and data suggesting that they will only grow in the future, not to mention plenty of informational resources and technical assistance available, Northeast growers are well positioned to ride the multicultural marketing wave.
The market segments that are growing rapidly across the nation are the Hispanic, African American, and Asian communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic and Asian people in the U.S. will triple by 2050.
In a 2003 report, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) said that over the next two decades, the Hispanic population is expected to grow by 1.2 million annually, compared with annual increases of 500,000 among non-Hispanic Whites and 400,000 each among Blacks and Asians. Hispanics are expected to increase from 12.6 percent of the population in 2000 to 18 percent in 2020, and Asians are expected to increase from four percent to five percent.
ERS pointed out that growing ethnic diversity has contributed to shifts in food preferences as well as expansion of the food repertoire for all Americans. The agency suggests that to profit from this diversity, U.S. food suppliers must be both aware of the differing preferences of ethnic groups and able to creatively tap into Americans' love of novel taste experiences.
And in promoting a recent educational seminar, the Food Marketing Institute similarly stated that ethnic consumers not only comprise an increasingly formidable consumer market, but are also re-shaping the nation's palate through the growing demand for ethnic foods.
The folks at UMass Extension caught on to this trend a number of years ago and have been helping Massachusetts growers find crops typically grown in Latin American and Asian countries that will also grow in the Bay State, despite the shorter growing season. Local growers have been growing crops like ají dulce (a small light green pepper) and calabaza (a type of squash), then marketing them through farmers' markets, farmstands and grocery stores in areas with large Hispanic communities like Holyoke, Lawrence and Lowell.
In fact, UMass Extension has created a website in collaboration with Cornell and Rutgers to help northeast growers find vegetables, fruit and herbs that are in demand by local ethnic communities. The site, www.worldcrops.org, has crop information organized by region - Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe - and by country within those regions, to help growers target specific markets. Included is production information, seed sources, nutrition information and references.
Components of a successful multicultural marketing program, according to Denyse Selesnick of International Trade Information, Inc. in a presentation to food marketers, include knowing the ethnic make-up of your area, learning their food preferences, advertising in their language(s) in publications for their community, doing special promotions around ethnic holidays, and hiring a diverse staff who can relate to these customers.
On the worldcrops.org website, Frank Mangan of the UMass Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, reminds growers to be aware that crops can have different names in different countries and languages, and to label produce appropriately. He also offers marketing tips concerning price and appearance. The best way to research preferences and other considerations, he says, is to visit markets that serve ethnic communities in the area.
According to the Produce Marketing Association, Hispanic consumers average 4.6 grocery trips per week, in contrast to 2.2 trips for non-Hispanic consumers in the United States. The primary reason for that is a strong preference for fresh, high quality fruits and vegetables. That's good news for local growers, who can offer fresh produce just in from the field.
For your customers who are not part of these specific ethnic communities but who are looking for that novel taste experience, be sure to have some recipes and background information on hand.
So, with diverse markets already close at hand and data suggesting that they will only grow in the future, not to mention plenty of informational resources and technical assistance available, Northeast growers are well positioned to ride the multicultural marketing wave.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Meal Solutions: does this food marketing buzz word work on the farm?
At the annual Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Supermarket Industry Convention held in Chicago each May, a buzz word emerged about a half dozen years ago for a new marketing category: "Meal Solutions." The term can have different meanings to different food marketers, but generally it's based on the idea that meal planning and preparation times have become more difficult for today's busy consumers.
Now, all these years later, the concept is still a topic on the convention's workshop program indicating that it's a marketing concept that's here to stay and which could easily work not only for supermarkets but also for farmstands.
You have probably noticed that some time ago supermarkets began offering more prepared foods, usually near the front of the store or the deli. Offerings often include rotisserie chicken, side dishes, pasta dishes, salad bars, and pre-made sandwiches. Sometimes foods are kept warm or can be quickly heated in the microwave oven.
Meal Solutions aren't just limited to fully prepared foods, but can be defined by several levels of consumer involvement in the meal:
Focus groups conducted by FMI around the country identified six needs related to meals that encompass nutrition, family time, holiday and social gatherings, cultural traditions, and indulging in favorite foods as a reward. Recognizing these needs can help food retailers develop Meal Solutions products to meet these needs and thereby increase sales.
Local turkey farms were onto this idea a long time ago. For as long as I can remember, at Thanksgiving time turkey farms have offered fully cooked turkeys with all the fixings - stuffing, gravy, potatoes, squash, and cranberry sauce - for folks who wanted a fresh, home-cooked turkey dinner but didn't have the time or ability to cook it themselves.
A quick check of some local farmstand websites shows that fruit and vegetable farm marketers have also picked up on this marketing niche either intuitively or by studying marketing trends.
Berlin Orchards in Berlin, Mass., suggests on their website, "If you've had a busy day, pick up a home cooked 'dinner-to-go' such as our famous chicken pot pie."
Green River Farms in Williamstown, Mass., not only sells fresh produce, dairy products, cheeses and pasta, but also tells customers that "You can also look forward to an expanded selection of salads, soups and entrees prepared in-store for you to conveniently pick up on your way home for dinner, or on your lunch break from work, or any time!"
Bolton Orchards in Bolton, Mass., offers a large selection of prepared foods including appetizers, entrees and desserts, including sandwiches made to order, homemade soups, stews, chowders and chilies, dinner entrees, side dishes, salads and desserts, and party platters.
Offering fully prepared foods may not be right for every farmstand. You'll need the equipment, ability, packaging and personnel to do the preparation, or if you buy-in, you'll at least need the proper equipment to keep them hot or cold. Perhaps the ready-to-prepare or ready-to-create categories would work better.
The Meals Solutions concept can be as simple as displaying together items that can make up a meal, along with a recipe or two. That way, harried customers don't need to think about putting a meal together. All they have to do is grab and buy the items you've put together, and go.
If customers know that they can not only pick up fresh ingredients for a salad or dessert, but the entire dinner as well, without having to make an extra trip to the grocery store, that gives them all the more reason to stop by your farmstand on the way home from work.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Now, all these years later, the concept is still a topic on the convention's workshop program indicating that it's a marketing concept that's here to stay and which could easily work not only for supermarkets but also for farmstands.
You have probably noticed that some time ago supermarkets began offering more prepared foods, usually near the front of the store or the deli. Offerings often include rotisserie chicken, side dishes, pasta dishes, salad bars, and pre-made sandwiches. Sometimes foods are kept warm or can be quickly heated in the microwave oven.
Meal Solutions aren't just limited to fully prepared foods, but can be defined by several levels of consumer involvement in the meal:
- Ready-to-eat: convenient meals for immediate consumption, usually prepared food.
- Ready-to-heat: partially or fully prepared meals requiring heating for later consumption.
- Ready-to-prepare: meal requires assembly but minimal planning, purchase and preparation.
- Ready-to-create: refers to retailer programs designed to build consumer cooking interest and capability.
Focus groups conducted by FMI around the country identified six needs related to meals that encompass nutrition, family time, holiday and social gatherings, cultural traditions, and indulging in favorite foods as a reward. Recognizing these needs can help food retailers develop Meal Solutions products to meet these needs and thereby increase sales.
Local turkey farms were onto this idea a long time ago. For as long as I can remember, at Thanksgiving time turkey farms have offered fully cooked turkeys with all the fixings - stuffing, gravy, potatoes, squash, and cranberry sauce - for folks who wanted a fresh, home-cooked turkey dinner but didn't have the time or ability to cook it themselves.
A quick check of some local farmstand websites shows that fruit and vegetable farm marketers have also picked up on this marketing niche either intuitively or by studying marketing trends.
Berlin Orchards in Berlin, Mass., suggests on their website, "If you've had a busy day, pick up a home cooked 'dinner-to-go' such as our famous chicken pot pie."
Green River Farms in Williamstown, Mass., not only sells fresh produce, dairy products, cheeses and pasta, but also tells customers that "You can also look forward to an expanded selection of salads, soups and entrees prepared in-store for you to conveniently pick up on your way home for dinner, or on your lunch break from work, or any time!"
Bolton Orchards in Bolton, Mass., offers a large selection of prepared foods including appetizers, entrees and desserts, including sandwiches made to order, homemade soups, stews, chowders and chilies, dinner entrees, side dishes, salads and desserts, and party platters.
Offering fully prepared foods may not be right for every farmstand. You'll need the equipment, ability, packaging and personnel to do the preparation, or if you buy-in, you'll at least need the proper equipment to keep them hot or cold. Perhaps the ready-to-prepare or ready-to-create categories would work better.
The Meals Solutions concept can be as simple as displaying together items that can make up a meal, along with a recipe or two. That way, harried customers don't need to think about putting a meal together. All they have to do is grab and buy the items you've put together, and go.
If customers know that they can not only pick up fresh ingredients for a salad or dessert, but the entire dinner as well, without having to make an extra trip to the grocery store, that gives them all the more reason to stop by your farmstand on the way home from work.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Do health claims mean healthier marketing?
I subscribe to a daily e-mail news digest published by a national produce trade association. Over time, I've noticed an interesting trend. Every few days, the top news story is about the health benefits of a certain fruit or vegetable. They're not just talking about fruits and veggies being nutritious. No, they're talking specifically about a particular fruit preventing cancer or helping arthritis.
Here are a few examples:
This category of beneficial foods has been dubbed "nutraceuticals" and "functional foods." Those terms aren't limited to fruits and vegetables; they include any food that provides a health benefit in much the same way that a medicine or dietary supplement would. Other, more scientific terms that apply to produce are "phytonutrients," which refers to plant based nutrients, and "bioactive food components," which refers to health claims about food.
So why are these foods garnering so much news coverage? Well, there are several reasons. First, new health benefits of food are continually being discovered, second the news media believes that these discoveries are relevant to their readers, and third that produce marketers see these health benefits as giving them a marketing edge. The news stories no doubt started life as news releases issued by the marketers, who may have commissioned the study that revealed the health benefits.
Can farmers also gain a marketing edge from presenting their produce as "functional food?" Why not? While that exact term may not be terribly appealing to customers, the information itself is sure to be of interest to many folks.
People who shop at farmstands and farmers' markets already have enough of an interest in fruits and veggies to go out of their way to buy them where they can talk to the grower about how the produce was grown and how to prepare it, so it wouldn't be surprising if they were health conscious as well.
The abundance of health studies relating to food can be overwhelming, confusing and at times conflicting, so the key is to choose a few health claims from very credible sources to use in your marketing materials.
Health information can be incorporated into point of sale signage and literature, packaging, advertising, and publicity. It is a good idea to cite the source wherever possible. It lends credibility to the claim and deflects the responsibility from you if the claim later turns out to be false.
USDA has some information about bioactive food components and phytonutrients on the department's nutrition website: www.nutrition.gov. The Produce for Better Health Foundation offers health benefit information on their "5 A Day The Color Way" website at www.5aday.com, which presents health benefits related to produce color.
Many food and produce marketing trade associations offer nutrition study reports and nutrition information point of sale materials to their members, often for a fee.
According to news reports, some of the large food manufacturers who have jumped on recent health bandwagons by labeling their products as low-fat or low-carb are now experiencing a backlash from consumer groups that are scrutinizing the more dubious claims and accusing food companies of exploiting these trends.
That can serve as a lesson to be careful how you present health claims for your products. Fresh produce is fairly straightforward...what you see is what you get, as they say. Value-added or processed foods, on the other hand, can be trickier since there are additional ingredients to be considered. For these you might want to get a professional opinion or stay away from health claims altogether.
So, while many of your customers are simply looking for freshly picked, tasty fruits and vegetables, why not offer another reason for folks to buy even more of what you sell. Here's to a healthy and functional bottom line.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the April 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Here are a few examples:
- "Mushroom said to possess healing powers"
- "Study: Fruits, vegetables help young leukemia patients""Pumpkin helps boost the immune system"
- "Study: Kiwifruit good for the heart""Study: Eye health aided by dark greens"and even
- "Study: Dogs also benefit from diet rich in fruits, vegetables"
This category of beneficial foods has been dubbed "nutraceuticals" and "functional foods." Those terms aren't limited to fruits and vegetables; they include any food that provides a health benefit in much the same way that a medicine or dietary supplement would. Other, more scientific terms that apply to produce are "phytonutrients," which refers to plant based nutrients, and "bioactive food components," which refers to health claims about food.
So why are these foods garnering so much news coverage? Well, there are several reasons. First, new health benefits of food are continually being discovered, second the news media believes that these discoveries are relevant to their readers, and third that produce marketers see these health benefits as giving them a marketing edge. The news stories no doubt started life as news releases issued by the marketers, who may have commissioned the study that revealed the health benefits.
Can farmers also gain a marketing edge from presenting their produce as "functional food?" Why not? While that exact term may not be terribly appealing to customers, the information itself is sure to be of interest to many folks.
People who shop at farmstands and farmers' markets already have enough of an interest in fruits and veggies to go out of their way to buy them where they can talk to the grower about how the produce was grown and how to prepare it, so it wouldn't be surprising if they were health conscious as well.
The abundance of health studies relating to food can be overwhelming, confusing and at times conflicting, so the key is to choose a few health claims from very credible sources to use in your marketing materials.
Health information can be incorporated into point of sale signage and literature, packaging, advertising, and publicity. It is a good idea to cite the source wherever possible. It lends credibility to the claim and deflects the responsibility from you if the claim later turns out to be false.
USDA has some information about bioactive food components and phytonutrients on the department's nutrition website: www.nutrition.gov. The Produce for Better Health Foundation offers health benefit information on their "5 A Day The Color Way" website at www.5aday.com, which presents health benefits related to produce color.
Many food and produce marketing trade associations offer nutrition study reports and nutrition information point of sale materials to their members, often for a fee.
According to news reports, some of the large food manufacturers who have jumped on recent health bandwagons by labeling their products as low-fat or low-carb are now experiencing a backlash from consumer groups that are scrutinizing the more dubious claims and accusing food companies of exploiting these trends.
That can serve as a lesson to be careful how you present health claims for your products. Fresh produce is fairly straightforward...what you see is what you get, as they say. Value-added or processed foods, on the other hand, can be trickier since there are additional ingredients to be considered. For these you might want to get a professional opinion or stay away from health claims altogether.
So, while many of your customers are simply looking for freshly picked, tasty fruits and vegetables, why not offer another reason for folks to buy even more of what you sell. Here's to a healthy and functional bottom line.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the April 2005 issue of Growing magazine.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Stay Ahead of Consumer Trends
Maintaining your marketing edge means keeping up with – or at least being aware of – consumer buying trends. So, short of doing your own consumer study, a costly and time consuming proposition, where can you get consumer trend information? On-line, of course.
Several websites designed for the grocery industry offer some good up-to-date consumer trend information, much of which can be applied to farm marketing with a little creativity.
Supermarketguru.com features news and information for anyone interested in the food industry: consumers, food producers and marketers alike. Of particular interest is a section specifically for marketers (click on the link on the left-hand navigation bar). This section includes downloadable industry trend presentations, links to free food industry e-newsletters, and other resources.
The site, which is run by national consumer television reporter Phil Lempert, also includes new product reviews and gives visitors the opportunity to rate products. Farm marketers producing or considering producing value-added products, might be able to glean some ideas here and learn what has worked or hasn’t worked for others.
The Food Marketing Institute’s website – http://www.fmi.org/ -- offers some free consumer trend information and industry facts and figures. More in-depth information is available for members only, or can be purchased. The best offering by FMI, however, are two free e-newsletters which digest industry news and trends.
The FMI Daily Lead e-newsletter compiles food related news stories from around the country and overseas. The newsletter, which can be received in either HTML or plain text format, gives a brief synopsis of the news story and a link to the particular newspaper’s website.
“Facts, Figures & the Future” is a monthly e-publication produced by FMI and edited by Phil Lempert that delivers the latest consumer data and trend information. The newsletter can be read on the website or by e-mail subscription.
The United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association (http://www.uffva.org/) also offers an e-newsletter, the UFFVA Smart Brief, which is very similar to the FMI Daily Lead. They are both, in fact, produced by a third party service called SmartBrief, Inc.
While the FMI Daily Lead includes news on all aspects of the grocery industry – products, management, labor, non-food items – the UFFVA Smart Brief tends to focus more on produce marketing, though not exclusively. Many of the same news stories appear in both e-newsletters.
The Produce Marketing Association website (http://www.pma.com/) includes plenty of news and information on produce marketing topics and issues. PMA offers an e-newsletter as well. According to the website, the e-mail newsletter is only for employees of PMA member companies, but anyone can read it on the website.
So, now that you know there is plenty of consumer trend information out there, two questions remain: will you have time to read and digest it all and what will you do with the information once you have it?
Finding the time has to be the biggest challenge, but it’s got to be a little easier today with these electronic resources that summarize information and deliver it quickly.
Unfortunately, none of these resources are targeted specifically to farm marketers so it will require weeding through any irrelevant information and being creative in finding the trends that can apply to fresh produce sold on the farm or at a farmers’ market.
But shoppers are shoppers no matter where they shop, and if they are looking for convenience or variety or unusual products, why not find a way to offer them what they are looking for to stay in the marketing game.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the August 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
Several websites designed for the grocery industry offer some good up-to-date consumer trend information, much of which can be applied to farm marketing with a little creativity.
Supermarketguru.com features news and information for anyone interested in the food industry: consumers, food producers and marketers alike. Of particular interest is a section specifically for marketers (click on the link on the left-hand navigation bar). This section includes downloadable industry trend presentations, links to free food industry e-newsletters, and other resources.
The site, which is run by national consumer television reporter Phil Lempert, also includes new product reviews and gives visitors the opportunity to rate products. Farm marketers producing or considering producing value-added products, might be able to glean some ideas here and learn what has worked or hasn’t worked for others.
The Food Marketing Institute’s website – http://www.fmi.org/ -- offers some free consumer trend information and industry facts and figures. More in-depth information is available for members only, or can be purchased. The best offering by FMI, however, are two free e-newsletters which digest industry news and trends.
The FMI Daily Lead e-newsletter compiles food related news stories from around the country and overseas. The newsletter, which can be received in either HTML or plain text format, gives a brief synopsis of the news story and a link to the particular newspaper’s website.
“Facts, Figures & the Future” is a monthly e-publication produced by FMI and edited by Phil Lempert that delivers the latest consumer data and trend information. The newsletter can be read on the website or by e-mail subscription.
The United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association (http://www.uffva.org/) also offers an e-newsletter, the UFFVA Smart Brief, which is very similar to the FMI Daily Lead. They are both, in fact, produced by a third party service called SmartBrief, Inc.
While the FMI Daily Lead includes news on all aspects of the grocery industry – products, management, labor, non-food items – the UFFVA Smart Brief tends to focus more on produce marketing, though not exclusively. Many of the same news stories appear in both e-newsletters.
The Produce Marketing Association website (http://www.pma.com/) includes plenty of news and information on produce marketing topics and issues. PMA offers an e-newsletter as well. According to the website, the e-mail newsletter is only for employees of PMA member companies, but anyone can read it on the website.
So, now that you know there is plenty of consumer trend information out there, two questions remain: will you have time to read and digest it all and what will you do with the information once you have it?
Finding the time has to be the biggest challenge, but it’s got to be a little easier today with these electronic resources that summarize information and deliver it quickly.
Unfortunately, none of these resources are targeted specifically to farm marketers so it will require weeding through any irrelevant information and being creative in finding the trends that can apply to fresh produce sold on the farm or at a farmers’ market.
But shoppers are shoppers no matter where they shop, and if they are looking for convenience or variety or unusual products, why not find a way to offer them what they are looking for to stay in the marketing game.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the August 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
Mixed messages in consumer research
A recent national survey of U.S. consumers discovered that, when it comes to purchasing fruits and vegetables, consumers are primarily influenced by flavor, according to the Produce Marketing Association (PMA). Yet only one percent said that where it’s grown was the most important determining purchase factor. While this news might seem discouraging to growers who tout the fact that their produce is locally grown, it can also serve as a challenge to growers to help consumers make the connection between “local” and “flavorful.”
Other important factors in consumer produce buying decisions are appearance and health benefits, followed by price and freshness. Other important reasons included buying out of habit, buying items that are liked or needed, what’s on sale, and what’s in season.
It’s interesting too that, according to the PMA survey, consumers are mindful of freshness and seasonality, yet, again, rate origin so low. This might say that a consumer is only interested in how a product benefits him or her. In other words, as long as a tomato is flavorful, attractive, inexpensive and fresh, the consumer doesn’t care where it came from.
That might be true for some but it may be an inaccurate or incomplete picture of your typical customer. It’s only human nature to base personal preferences on personal benefits, so you might conclude that it doesn’t matter if you label your produce with your farm name, state, or region, as long as it’s fresh and flavorful people will buy it.
On the contrary, a label identifying produce as locally grown should help local consumers know that it is fresh, and therefore, flavorful by distinguishing it from produce trucked from across the country.
It should be a no brainer for consumers to make that connection, but on-going public education about the benefits of locally grown produce is never a bad idea. And your customers are probably sophisticated enough to take into account other factors such as how buying local produce benefits the local economy and environment, so why not point that out as well.
Label your produce as local but also back up your label with supporting information on why local is better. You can do this with point of sale materials, in your advertising, and in your publicity efforts. If you participate in a regional “buy local” campaign, the campaign is probably doing much the same thing.
Newark, Delaware based PMA is a not-for-profit global trade association serving over 2,400 members who produce, distribute, and market fresh fruits, vegetables, and related products worldwide.
“PMA members have told us they want to know more about consumer issues and have identified this area as critical to their businesses,” said PMA President Bryan Silbermann. “We want to provide our members with valuable insights and trends that will help drive consumption,” he added.
It’s just as important for small and medium-sized growers to stay abreast of consumer trends and preferences, as it is for large grocery retailers.
Other highlights from the survey were: consumers ages 60 and older are more likely to buy produce for health benefits; consumers with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 are also more likely to buy produce for health benefits; apples are purchased more often by consumers aged 18 to 45 and those who have children; grapes are purchased more often by African Americans than Caucasians.
What can you do with that type of information? Research the demographics for your county to learn the age, income, educational and racial make-up of your community, then promote the characteristics of your products that are most important to the market segment you want to reach. Demographic data is available on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website at http://factfinder.census.gov/.
The bottom line on consumer research like the PMA survey is that even if the news appears negative, you can find a way to use the information to your advantage. But then this will come as second nature to folks who are quite accustomed to making cider and jam from drops.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the June 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
Other important factors in consumer produce buying decisions are appearance and health benefits, followed by price and freshness. Other important reasons included buying out of habit, buying items that are liked or needed, what’s on sale, and what’s in season.
It’s interesting too that, according to the PMA survey, consumers are mindful of freshness and seasonality, yet, again, rate origin so low. This might say that a consumer is only interested in how a product benefits him or her. In other words, as long as a tomato is flavorful, attractive, inexpensive and fresh, the consumer doesn’t care where it came from.
That might be true for some but it may be an inaccurate or incomplete picture of your typical customer. It’s only human nature to base personal preferences on personal benefits, so you might conclude that it doesn’t matter if you label your produce with your farm name, state, or region, as long as it’s fresh and flavorful people will buy it.
On the contrary, a label identifying produce as locally grown should help local consumers know that it is fresh, and therefore, flavorful by distinguishing it from produce trucked from across the country.
It should be a no brainer for consumers to make that connection, but on-going public education about the benefits of locally grown produce is never a bad idea. And your customers are probably sophisticated enough to take into account other factors such as how buying local produce benefits the local economy and environment, so why not point that out as well.
Label your produce as local but also back up your label with supporting information on why local is better. You can do this with point of sale materials, in your advertising, and in your publicity efforts. If you participate in a regional “buy local” campaign, the campaign is probably doing much the same thing.
Newark, Delaware based PMA is a not-for-profit global trade association serving over 2,400 members who produce, distribute, and market fresh fruits, vegetables, and related products worldwide.
“PMA members have told us they want to know more about consumer issues and have identified this area as critical to their businesses,” said PMA President Bryan Silbermann. “We want to provide our members with valuable insights and trends that will help drive consumption,” he added.
It’s just as important for small and medium-sized growers to stay abreast of consumer trends and preferences, as it is for large grocery retailers.
Other highlights from the survey were: consumers ages 60 and older are more likely to buy produce for health benefits; consumers with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 are also more likely to buy produce for health benefits; apples are purchased more often by consumers aged 18 to 45 and those who have children; grapes are purchased more often by African Americans than Caucasians.
What can you do with that type of information? Research the demographics for your county to learn the age, income, educational and racial make-up of your community, then promote the characteristics of your products that are most important to the market segment you want to reach. Demographic data is available on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website at http://factfinder.census.gov/.
The bottom line on consumer research like the PMA survey is that even if the news appears negative, you can find a way to use the information to your advantage. But then this will come as second nature to folks who are quite accustomed to making cider and jam from drops.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the June 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
Have you jumped on the “buy local” bandwagon?
They say there is safety in numbers. That could be one way to look at why many local farmers have joined forces with each other and non-profit organizations, community groups and state agriculture departments to market their products through “buy local” campaigns. Such efforts not only offer economies and efficiencies in advertising and promotion, but also present a united front for agriculture in a given region.
The “buy local” concept and associated campaigns aren’t exactly new, but there seem to be more of them and the focus has shifted. Statewide campaigns like “Vermont Made with Pride,” Jersey Fresh,” and “Massachusetts grown…and fresher!” date back to the 1970s and 80s and were spearheaded by state agriculture departments. While some of those slogans and logos may still be around, there are new trends in promoting local farm products.
Today’s typical “buy local” campaign is coordinated by a non-profit organization, is focused on a region within a given state, asks participating farmers to become “members,” and offers members services beyond cooperative advertising. Such services can include educational workshops, business training, special events, and technical assistance.
In Massachusetts such campaigns include “Berkshire Grown” in Berkshire County, “Be a Local Hero” organized by Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) in the Connecticut River Valley, and the campaign organized by the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership which simply proclaims “Buy Local” on its logo.
The narrower focus of latter day campaigns is probably more in line with how consumers define “local.” Does a shopper in Plymouth, Mass., consider produce from Amherst, Mass., local? Maybe…if the only other choice is produce from California. But if the Plymouth shopper can find produce from Westport, Mass., all the better.
The key to shoppers being able to find local produce is being able to identify it. That’s where these “buy local” campaigns shine. They all offer identifiable logos that should be highly visible in the area through advertising and usage by members.
The fringe benefit of consumers knowing that they are buying produce grown within a few miles of their home is the increased awareness of farms in their own community.
These campaigns seem to be working. Surveys conducted by CISA show that 78 percent of those polled could recall the campaign and it’s message, 86 percent viewed the effort favorably and 80 percent were convinced that they should change their buying habits.
Each campaign differs emphasis. Some focus on wholesale marketing through supermarkets, others on retailing at farmstands and farmers’ markets, and still others through high-end white tablecloth restaurants. Regional differences in demographics and the food marketing climate perhaps determine where that emphasis is placed.
Any type of joint venture with competitors can certainly go against the grain to New Englanders who are fiercely independent by nature, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there’s been at least a small amount of resistance to these cooperative efforts. For many farmers who do participate, however, there have been valuable rewards to be reaped.
So is it what’s in it for you? Maybe nothing…if you’ve got all the business you can handle. But if you think your bottom line could benefit from increased visibility and if you see the value of increased visibility for all farmers in your area, then participation in a “buy local” campaign might be right for you. Remember, there’s safety in numbers.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the April 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
The “buy local” concept and associated campaigns aren’t exactly new, but there seem to be more of them and the focus has shifted. Statewide campaigns like “Vermont Made with Pride,” Jersey Fresh,” and “Massachusetts grown…and fresher!” date back to the 1970s and 80s and were spearheaded by state agriculture departments. While some of those slogans and logos may still be around, there are new trends in promoting local farm products.
Today’s typical “buy local” campaign is coordinated by a non-profit organization, is focused on a region within a given state, asks participating farmers to become “members,” and offers members services beyond cooperative advertising. Such services can include educational workshops, business training, special events, and technical assistance.
In Massachusetts such campaigns include “Berkshire Grown” in Berkshire County, “Be a Local Hero” organized by Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) in the Connecticut River Valley, and the campaign organized by the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership which simply proclaims “Buy Local” on its logo.
The narrower focus of latter day campaigns is probably more in line with how consumers define “local.” Does a shopper in Plymouth, Mass., consider produce from Amherst, Mass., local? Maybe…if the only other choice is produce from California. But if the Plymouth shopper can find produce from Westport, Mass., all the better.
The key to shoppers being able to find local produce is being able to identify it. That’s where these “buy local” campaigns shine. They all offer identifiable logos that should be highly visible in the area through advertising and usage by members.
The fringe benefit of consumers knowing that they are buying produce grown within a few miles of their home is the increased awareness of farms in their own community.
These campaigns seem to be working. Surveys conducted by CISA show that 78 percent of those polled could recall the campaign and it’s message, 86 percent viewed the effort favorably and 80 percent were convinced that they should change their buying habits.
Each campaign differs emphasis. Some focus on wholesale marketing through supermarkets, others on retailing at farmstands and farmers’ markets, and still others through high-end white tablecloth restaurants. Regional differences in demographics and the food marketing climate perhaps determine where that emphasis is placed.
Any type of joint venture with competitors can certainly go against the grain to New Englanders who are fiercely independent by nature, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there’s been at least a small amount of resistance to these cooperative efforts. For many farmers who do participate, however, there have been valuable rewards to be reaped.
So is it what’s in it for you? Maybe nothing…if you’ve got all the business you can handle. But if you think your bottom line could benefit from increased visibility and if you see the value of increased visibility for all farmers in your area, then participation in a “buy local” campaign might be right for you. Remember, there’s safety in numbers.
Copyright 2004 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the April 2004 issue of Growing magazine.
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