From Field to Fork

Taking in a professional convention has consequences. The attendee gets a break, brings home new ideas, builds new relationships, etc. The folks back home may dread the attendee’s return because it’s likely to mean some new scheme to “do things better.”

I attended the American Society of Association Executives convention in late August. (You knew there had to be an association for association people, right?) It is great to get out of the office and learn from fellow association execs that are facing the same issues we face and are willing to share solutions. Speaker Robert B. Tucker focused on innovative thinking. He talked about making innovation a systematic process, implementing idea management systems, collaborating with customers and suppliers, creating metrics and rewards, and involving everyone in the enterprise.

Tucker noted that there’s no such thing as a commodity (an undistinguished item in a sea of like items), just tired marketers. He stressed looking for new markets and new distribution channels. He challenged listeners to look outside their industry to find value and impact.

He also used a twist on a phrase that I liked. Tucker said we should ask ourselves “different” questions as we seek to innovate. That rang true with me – more so than the admonition to ask “better” questions, which makes a negative value judgment about the questions we’re already asking. Not only does this eliminate the value judgment, it also encourages us to open new lines of questioning that may lead to different paths, hence to innovation. So the next time you’re tempted to scour your brain for a “better” question, just let your mind wander to a “different” question and see where that gets you.

I enjoy getting out with my colleagues, examining common (or not-so-common) issues, and finding new ways to improve how I do my job. You’ve got that opportunity coming up as well. Come to Fresh Summit, October 15 to 18 in Orlando. Get out from behind your desk, engage on issues, and build relationships (new and established). Give yourself the mental and physical space to discover and develop the great idea that’s going to take your business to the next level.

Field to Fork regularly invites PMA members to tell us your stories – mostly recently, we’ve invited you to tell us how your business is promoting sustainability, and how you are promoting access to healthy fruits and vegetables. This past weekend I was reminded of the real-world consequences when our industry doesn’t tell our story – or worse, when we let others control how our industry is depicted.

My fiancé and I had stumbled quite accidentally on a small tapas restaurant in Chicago, and were absolutely delighting in incredible dish after dish prepared right in front of us. (We’d opted to sit at the bar, which as luck would have it also turned out to double as the finishing line in this small store). It was immediately clear to us that the menu had been prepared with love and ingredients chosen with care, and we foodies were in absolute heaven to be so surprised and delighted. So being a writer at heart, I simply had to find out this place’s story. Fortunately the assistant manager and sous chef was working right in front of us, and was quite happy to recount how the stars had aligned to allow the opening only two months ago of what turned out to be a second location of the owner and chef.

As the evening progressed, we queried her about ingredients. What was this leafy green? What kind of apples were these, and from where? (My fiancé is an apple grower and marketer.) As she educated us, we also learned a lot about her perceptions about produce – and her misperceptions. While she was well educated about food and health in general, a knowledge likely driven by her own celiac disease, she had bought into Dirty Dozen-type reports. She also thought that “organic” meant pesticide-free. This was a woman who works in the food industry, and has the ability to impact the dietary habits of easily thousands of people in an average year.

Simply put, we must do a better job of telling our story, folks – and at a minimum, not letting other folks tell our stories for us (often to our detriment). If you don’t already know this, telling our story has many benefits – both intangible, such as building goodwill that can help you in times of potential industry crisis, as I recently saw Earthbound Farms do artfully – and tangible, by helping us overcome misperceptions that limit our markets. And PMA can help you; your PMA staff includes several public relations experts who can help you do so, just give us a call, we are at your service. We can also introduce you about the resources available to help you better understand consumers, including our extensive consumer research library. We look forward to hearing from you.

(Our upcoming Fresh Summit will feature lots of programming on the subject of telling your story – from President & CEO Bryan Silbermann’s annual State of the Industry address to provide you with inspiration, to workshops to provide you with the skills. For more information, visit our Fresh Summit website.)

And if you want to know where to get really good tapas in Chicago, just let me know, I’ll be glad to share their contact information.

In last year’s in-depth consumer research study, PMA found that the primary reasons consumers purchase locally grown produce is for freshness, taste, and quality. Shoppers also told us they buy local to support local farmers and the community/economy. Interestingly, food safety was a reason that ranked low among for buying local. Combine these trends with an increased focus on knowing one’s farmer and food source via federal programs, and the locally grown trend shows no signs of slowing down.

During the PMA Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, we’ll look at this trend and examine the numerous benefits - and risks - associated with it during the “Keeping it Local: The Pros and Cons of Local Sourcing” workshop. If you’re headed to Orlando in October, join us for a panel discussion that will take a frank look at the good and the bad of local sourcing, including finding local partners, identifying potential savings, meeting quality and safety standards, and determining if a local sourcing strategy is the smartest move for your business.

For a complete listing of the event’s education program, visit the Fresh Summit website and look at the schedule. If you’re planning to come to Orlando in October, remember that the deadline to register online and save is September 17. The last day to register in advance is October 1.

In the meantime, check out this recent opinion piece from the New York Times as some food for thought and different perspective on the local trend.

Often on Field to Fork when we share sustainability stories, those items come from growers, processors, and distributors; however, retailers are also taking strides to become more sustainable. Recently I read that three of Weis Markets’ new stores will incorporate technologies and systems to reduce store refrigerant charges (usage) to 50 percent less than a typical supermarket. This change will decrease the stores’ impact on the ozone layer.

Also at Weis, their Carlisle Street store in Hanover, Pennsylvania, was the first supermarket in the state to earn a certification award from the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, a voluntary Environmental Protection Agency alliance with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions. Specifically, the Hanover store installed a glycol refrigeration system, which reduces refrigerant charge to less than half of what a typical supermarket uses. In a statement, Weis Markets noted that just 35 of the nation’s 35,000 grocery stores have received EPA’s GreenChill Store Certification awards.

In addition to changing its refrigerant use, Weis also recycles 14 million pounds of cardboard and one million pounds of plastic bags throughout its retail operations. Although there are no Weis Markets in our area, at the stores where my wife and I buy groceries each week, I see more and more retailers offering eco-friendly reusable bags in lieu of the standard plastic bags, as well as drop-off bins for plastic bag recycling.

Little steps like these can make a difference. What about your organization? Do you have a sustainability story or video you’d like to share with us and other PMA members? If so, please let us know. In the meantime, for more industry sustainability success stories and videos, visit the PMA website.

In a bit of fortuitous timing, after I wrote last week’s post on the importance of the produce industry sharing its sustainability stories, later that day I found an item in a daily e-mail digest regarding the California pear industry’s efforts in the sustainability arena.

A recent survey of California pear farmers has found that when it comes to sustainable farming practices such as employing Integrated Pest Management methods to reduce the use of pesticides, the California pear industry has a very high level of adoption. The survey, conducted by SureHarvest Inc., shows that more than 90 percent of California pear farmers regularly incorporate practices such as daily scouting for pests to reduce spray applications and utilizing non-toxic pheromone treatments in place of pesticides to reduce pest populations. Other key results from the survey are:

• 95 percent of California pear farmers use mating disruption pheromones as their primary treatment to control codling moth.
• 82 percent of farmers report applying fertilizer at or below the rates recommended by university scientists when deciding what amount of fertilizers to use.
• 87 percent of pear farmers report their orchard row middles are vegetated, which reduces the likelihood of soil erosion from wind or water.
• 76 percent of respondents report providing housing for at least some of their employees.

An executive summary of this research project is available on the California Pear Advisory Board website. Making a summary of this study publicly available is a great way for others in the industry – and consumers, too – to learn more about what we’re doing.

For more sustainability stories, visit the PMA website. Do you have a sustainability story or video you’d like to share with us and other PMA members? If so, please let us know.

While getting caught up on industry trade press the other day, I came across an article in the July issue of Progressive Grocer that addressed sustainability in the supermarket meat case. In it, representatives from the beef industry shared perspectives on how technology-driven sustainability can serve as both a business strategy and as a means to leverage positive consumer perceptions.

They recognized how sustainability components (e.g. increased efficiencies, reduced carbon footprints) can often clash with public perceptions of how food is to be sustainably grown, processed, and sold. The article noted that: “There’s a serious gap between the proven strategies the industry deploys to support sustainability and the warm and fuzzy feelings consumers connect with the concept.” To communicate sustainability effectively to consumers, the representatives recommended retailers:

• Build the business case for sustainability by using initiatives that support their brands.
• “Own” their commitment to sustainability by investing in marketing of sustainable products.
• Use labeling smartly, but don’t rely on buzzwords. Instead, use metrics that speak to both stakeholders and end users.
• Become better educated on sustainability practices and become better communicators of the sustainability message and story.

Even though the story focused on beef, I think the ideas presented therein offer insights to the fresh produce industry. While many companies have invested time and energy in implementing sustainable practices (see our sustainability stories page for examples), and while efforts like the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops are developing and piloting sustainability metrics, the key in capturing consumers’ attention is effectively communicating the sustainability story.

As one beef industry representative said in the article: “Whether it’s done for business, financial, or other reasons, I think there’s a great story to be told.”

For our industry, I couldn’t agree more.

Have you ever noticed that when you start looking for help, sometimes each “helper” often knows a few more who know a few more? Soon the network of helpers has expanded like a spider web. That was one of the great outcomes of a recent visit to Washington, DC. I went with other folks representing the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops to reach out to the House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture and USDA. Our purpose was to update legislative and regulatory staff on the Stewardship Index’s progress on developing and piloting sustainability metrics (not standards) and explore resources and ways to work together.

We accomplished those goals, and I won’t go into detail about that now. What caught my attention was the eager willingness for each of them to engage and help. Some staffers gave us names of experts that could help with the metrics and pilots – to the extent of one staffer pulling out his Blackberry to give us e-mail addresses and phone numbers. Other staffers explained their efforts on sustainability, offered to share information and urged us to draw on existing/developing programs.

Sometimes you hear about roadblocks or bottlenecks in Washington, DC. However, the SISC group found public servants who were open to the effort and eager to help.

Perhaps prompted by my call for industry sustainability stories last week on Field to Fork, I was contacted by Nelson Longenecker, vice president of business innovation for Four Seasons Produce, who gave me some more insights about Four Seasons’ energy efficiency initiatives.

The company started new initiatives to improve energy efficiency and sustainability in 2006 and realized significant savings including: annual energy cost savings of more than $150,000 (a 22 percent reduction from 2005 to 2009); avoidance of 2,400 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually; 1.4 million gallons in annual water use savings (a 21 percent reduction from 2007 to 2009); and elimination of more than 740,000 truck fleet miles in 2008 through routing and delivery improvements (a 13 percent reduction).

Nelson also shared with me an article on Four Seasons (featured in the summer 2010 issue of High Performance Buildings) that provided more details about their sustainability programs.

For more sustainability stories, visit the PMA Web site. Do you have a sustainability story or video you’d like to share with us and other PMA members? If so, please let us know.

Nearly 70 percent of U.S. consumers consider sustainable production when choosing food products at the grocery store, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the United Soybean Board. Consumers polled rated less pesticide use on crops as the most important factor when considering sustainability, followed by better soil health, and improved water quality. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they consider the sustainability of the farms that supply food ingredients for the products they purchase.

This research lines up with PMA’s own studies and research done by other organizations that shows consumers keep sustainability in mind when shopping. One of our studies from last year showed that two-thirds of consumers said their produce purchases are influenced by sustainability at least sometimes.

We’ve talked about sustainability at length here on Field to Fork since this blog was launched. One of the ways we do this is by sharing members’ sustainability stories. Visit the PMA Web site to see what your peers are doing. If you have a sustainability story to tell, let us know.

As you know, here on Field to Fork we periodically highlight PMA members’ sustainability efforts. In the year we’ve been doing this, we’ve talked about everything from corporate sustainability strategies to energy conservation to land/water management to community involvement. Another sustainability area we emphasize is packaging. PMA even has a packaging award given out at Fresh Summit that recognizes industry leaders each year.

Recently I spoke with Amber Oliveira of Christopher Ranch and she shared some details about their sustainable packaging efforts, which includes a mix of both cardboard boxes and reusable plastic containers. “We’ve replaced white cardboard from our packaging options and replaced it with kraft cardboard. Our packaging is manufactured almost exclusively with 100% recyclable material and we’re working closely with vendors to ensure recycled packaging content is offered wherever feasible,” she said.

Christopher Ranch is also in the process of replacing its entire inventory of one-, three- and five-pound plastic jars with plastic bags, saving more than a half a million pounds of plastic annually. By allowing for more efficient palletization (since they take up less space and weigh less than the jars did), the bags eliminate 200,000 pounds of carbon emissions during transportation. Both the bags and the boxes they are shipped in are 100% recyclable.

For more sustainability stories, visit the PMA Web site. Do you have a sustainability story or video you’d like to share with us and other PMA members? If so, please let us know.