If you joined us in Anaheim last month for Fresh Summit 2012, but were unable to attend the educational sessions you planned to, I want to let you know that we have just finished a post-event recap page on our website that contains a number of valuable resources from this year’s event. Some of the content available to members and non-members alike includes:

• State of the Industry: Game Changers
• The Innovation Conversation: How to Survive the e-Revolution
• Preventive Controls & Wash Water
• The New Global Supermarket: Open for Business
• Your Business 2.0: Super iPad™ Tools that Keep You On-The-Go
• Retail Produce Tour

A sample of Fresh Summit content available to PMA members only includes:

• Closing the Gap: Engaging Multiple Generations in Today’s Dynamic Marketplace
• Fresh Produce as a Preferred Load: Competing for Transportation in a Shrinking Market
• Retaining Top Talent and Keeping it Engaged – A Total Rewards Approach
• Spotlight on Wash Water
• Beyond Branding: Leveraging Social Media to Drive Sales
• Capitalize on Your Sustainability Efforts: Reach a Consumer Base That Cares and Buys
• Gaining a Fresh Perspective on the Key Elements of “Solutions” Selling
• How Mobile Levels the Playing Field
• It’s a Digital World—5 Simple Steps to Social Media Success
• Selling Produce in an Era of Unprecedented Opportunity and Challenge
• Top Health Trends to Shape Produce Profitability
• Turning Consumers into Customers to Increase Consumption

You can also join the conversations surrounding Fresh Summit and read additional blogs and recaps in the Fresh Summit Community on PMA Xchange.

Next Thursday, November 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering a Spanish version of its popular “Getting the Most from the Fruit and Vegetable Market News Retail Report” Webinar from 2-3 p.m. Eastern.

If you’re not familiar with USDA Market News, it is a Web-based resource that provides price and movement data for hundreds of agricultural commodities. It includes information for domestic and international wholesale markets, production areas, and ports of entry. USDA representatives will discuss how to access the Market News Portal, along with components of the Fruit and Vegetable report, including:

• Fresh produce prices at the retail level on a national and regional basis,
• Graphs and overviews of price and market activity data, and
• Analyses of fresh produce inclusion in weekly retail advertised specials at thousands of stores across the country.

Space is limited for this Webinar; you can register online here.

Here at PMA, I periodically use USDA Market News’ services to answer members’ questions and as a research resource. Members can also use our navigating regulatory agencies page to learn more about USDA, FDA, and Customs.

The Minor Crop Farmer Alliance (MCFA, PMA is a member) urged the U.S. Trade Representative to advance greater regulatory compatibility between the U.S. and the European Union (EU) on agricultural chemical registrations, especially establishing maximum residue levels (MRLs) for agricultural chemicals.

“Even slight variations for the same agricultural chemical as may be imposed by either (entity) can preclude or disrupt trade by leading to unnecessary product rejections at point of entry or, after entry, to consumer product recalls,” wrote MCFA chairman Chris Schlect of the Northwest Horticultural Council. “This might easily be accomplished by the regulatory agencies of both political entities establishing reasonable and clear tolerance levels for agricultural chemicals when they might be inadvertently present on a food or used purposely in compliance with the producing nation’s regulatory framework.”

Citing the importance of “minor” crops to U.S. agriculture, which are often exported to the EU, the letter noted that MRL variations “are mere symptoms of the sharp differences that have developed over the years between our country and the EU in terms of their respective systems for regulating pesticides. This highly variable regulatory environment urgently requires comprehensive reform aimed at facilitating commercial trade, while keeping in place high standards of consumer health safety. These two important policy goals—commercial trade and consumer safety― are not mutually exclusive.”

The letter suggested harmonizing regulatory policies in the following areas:

• Use of the proportionality concept in setting MRLs
• Defining a reasonable criteria for minor use crops
• Establishing a transparent and quick process to establish import tolerances (MRLs)
• Establishing a reasonable tolerance for the presence of certain postharvest materials, such as morpholine in food grade waxes
• Joining global efforts to promote joint guidelines for residue trials
• Joining global efforts to align data collection processes and procedures for residue trials
• Joining global efforts to address obstacles to joint registration

The letter, in response to a USTR call for comments on EU compatibility, points out the need for regulatory harmonization. Ours is a global marketplace, and almost every nation is below recommended fruit and vegetable consumption. Public safety is essential and it is safety that leads to consumer trust. However, sometimes numbers are the problem, not safety.

On October 31 at 2 p.m. Eastern, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service will offer a free Webinar “An Introduction to PACA” in Spanish to help those industry leaders in Spanish-speaking countries better understand how the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) operates to promote fair trade in the industry.

During this session, Patrick Romero from USDA will detail how PACA helps companies resolve business disputes and protects the fruit and vegetable industry and ultimately, your business. Romero has conducted numerous outreach seminars to growers and shippers from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

While this Webinar is free, advance registration is required. You can register here for this session. For additional information about PACA, visit the USDA website.

We’ve talked about USDA’s industry outreach efforts (Webinars on Market News, fresh inspections, etc.) here on Field to Fork before. As part of PMA’s ongoing efforts to help members navigate regulatory agencies, we’ll continue to let you know of future opportunities to learn more about the agency’s services.

What will 2020 look like? A burgeoning population? Advances in technology? Changing consumer expectations and priorities? Dr. Sally Uren, deputy CEO of Forum for the Future, which helps organizations prepare for a sustainable future, in early October addressed the Sustainability Summit, put on by the Trading Partner Alliance (Food Marketing Institute and Grocery Manufacturers of America). She speculated about the future, including hypothetical wars over water, grain crises due to climate change, and a dramatic impact of social media. Future scenarios may or may not come to pass, she said, but some things are clear. Sustainable consumption has mainstreamed, she said, whether or not consumers demand it and regardless of the economy.

She offered five recommendations as companies take steps today to prepare for that future:

1. Take innovative business models to market.
2. Work with your value chain to find new solutions.
3. Strengthen local brands and local production. She said we cannot assume that by 2020 mainstream consumers will love a big global brand. She advised companies to think about local interpretation of their brands that resonates with the consumer and community. Consumers like things from local sources, she said.
4. Build up long-term trust through transparency. If you make a mistake everyone will know in five seconds. Use this speed to build your brand.
5. Use the power of marketing to accelerate sustainability. Get there first and create market demand. Combine attributes such as healthy and sustainable. Link sustainability to saving money.

Where does sustainability rank in your strategic plan? How is it integrated into your business planning? What should you and/or the industry be doing now to prepare for the future? Join the conversation in the Sustainability Community on PMA Xchange.

You know from previous Field to Fork posts that PMA and its allies in the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance want to see a new farm bill passed this year; the current farm bill expires at the end of September. PMA is also part of a group, Farm Bill Now, that is advocating strongly for passage of a new bill. Farm Bill Now notes that the farm bill goes beyond farming, to jobs, health, nutrition, and more.

PMA’s President and CEO Bryan Silbermann recently said: “It’s important that Congress hear from our industry. Specialty crops have benefitted greatly from farm bill programs, as have consumers. Not only does the farm bill provide funding for industry-critical programs like research and conservation, it also improves consumers’ diets by including more fruits and vegetables. Just one example is the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program that provides fruit and vegetable snacks to schoolchildren. A new farm bill is what we need – not an extension of the existing legislation.”

The Senate has passed its version of a new farm bill, and we thank Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) for their leadership in getting that done. The House Agriculture Committee, led by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), has passed the House bill, but it has not yet been addressed by the full House.

On Wednesday, Sept. 12, Farm Bill Now is hosting a rally at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington to call for a new farm bill. PMA endorses that rally, and even if you cannot be part of it, we urge you to continue to use the PMA Advocacy Action Center to contact your representatives and senators to spur action on a new farm bill now.

Recently on the PMA website we posted a link to a blog from The Hartman Group (who has conducted consumer research for us previously) that focused on the importance of thoroughly understanding the consumer culture and mindset in new markets when expanding globally. This could include adapting products from their “home” markets; creating new business models to win, rather than importing old models; and strategizing beyond the top urban areas with the wealthiest consumers. Below I’d like to share some of the key points I found interesting in Hartman’s blog:

• “The added challenge in entering new food markets, for Western companies, lies in avoiding head-on collisions with local food culture and in finding behavioral spaces where modernization is altering food traditions. If your business is about outsourcing, for example, the act of cooking, it is important to remember that you are outsourcing the beating heart of your consumer’s cultural and moral world. In most societies, you are really outsourcing ‘Mom/wife.’”
• “In emerging markets, like India and Brazil, there is an added challenge: rapid social change caused by rapid Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth means that consumers vary widely in how they view the act of domestic cooking, the domestic cook and the appropriate occasions for outsourcing both to a food company.”
• “Developing markets behave much like the U.S. market 50 years ago, defining quality as Americans did then—by consistency, reliability, and uniformity. The hot BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) developing markets often venerate U.S. culture and aspire to own and use U.S. legacy brands. While these markets present lucrative new opportunities, they are also fraught with challenges, hurdles that will become costly errors unless companies acquire the cultural competency necessary to overcome them.”
• “The idea of ‘traditional family dinners at home’ is very different than in the 1970s. Single family units are a structure of the past. Today, households are more likely to be multi-generational, or composed of a sister and brother with partner and children, as an example. Conversing at the table is not routinely happening as digital devices emerge as preferred companions.”

You can read the full Hartman Group blog post by visiting the PMA website. In terms of helping our members better understand emerging markets and global trends, we offer global Fresh Connections events (the next one is August 22 in Pretoria, South Africa) and post the presentations from those meetings online, as well as offer global trade sessions during our Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition – we highlighted those earlier this week here on Field to Fork.

During PMA’s Fresh Connections: Mexico event, PMA President Bryan Silbermann and PMA Chairman Rich Dachman of Sysco shared their thoughts with Mexican produce industry leaders about trends driving the produce marketplace and encouraged attendees to think about what they do as selling health, flavor, and creating experiences that delight consumers.

In the U.S., half of fruits and vegetables are consumed outside the home. Locally sourced meats, seafood, and produce, sustainability, and children’s nutrition were all identified as top restaurant trends. Combined, these present great opportunities for the fresh produce industry. In addition to providing an overview of foodservice distributors, Rich spoke about the various U.S. foodservice operator formats.

He noted that “knowing how this sector of the industry works is important, especially because foodservice operations are capitalizing on consumer interest in healthful eating. Limited service operators are the fastest growing segment. This is generally healthier food and a great segment for our industry with lots of fresh produce on the menu and access to young consumers.”

Bryan Silbermann noted that to create the experiences Rich discussed requires a partnership that starts in the field and ends with the fork. “The competitive factor is as much about what you know about your consumer as it is about what you grow in your fields or greenhouses,” he said.

In addition to standard retail formats, Bryan said “today we see mobile stores in shipping containers, buses being converted into mobile stores - all to provide healthful food to consumers where they are. Also, more consumers are now moving back into cities, with retailers building smaller stores to cater to this population.”

Both Rich’s and Bryan’s presentations are now online in two new e-Learning courses available via the PMA website. I’ve listened to both and can tell you that there is quite a bit of great information and insight in both courses.

Check them out and tell us what you think in the Increasing Consumption Community on PMA Xchange.

According to analysis by Euromonitor, China and India are the dominant drivers in global growth of fresh foods; by 2015, China and India will represent 50 percent of total global consumption of fresh foods. Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Russia will also experience growth in fresh food consumption. In addition, bananas, apples, oranges, limes/lemons, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes will see the biggest volume growth in the Asia Pacific region.

If you’d like to hear more about Euromonitor’s forecasts for our industry, make plans to attend the 2012 Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition in Anaheim, California. On Friday, October 26, Matt Tripodi of Euromonitor will present “The New Global Supermarket: Open for Business” during a Fresh Summit workshop. Matt will discuss emerging opportunities in new markets, products expected to be in demand, and other trends of interest to produce industry leaders.

(Note: Matt visited the PMA office a few months ago and provided an excellent overview of global trends and opportunities. If this session is similar to that overview, Fresh Summit attendees can expect a knowledge- and insight-rich experience.)

Later that day, the Fresh Summit program will take a look at how fresh fruits and vegetables move through the global supply chain in “Global Door to Door Logistics: Understanding Global Trends and their Impact on Logistics Community.” Speaking during this session is Drew Schwartzhoff, director of marketing and sourcing for C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. In this thought-provoking session, participants will identify the global logistics impacting buying and selling decisions and gain a new perspective of what the supply chain will look like in just a few years.

You can learn more about the 2012 Fresh Summit program by visiting our website. Also, if you’re planning to attend, be sure to register on or before September 21 to receive early registration rates. There are a number of event registration packages available; get complete details on these options.

There’s also a Fresh Summit Community on PMA Xchange where you can learn more about this year’s show, as well as look back at sessions from the 2011 event.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has proposed a new inspection system for Canadian and imported foods. In an overview document, CFIA says the risk-based and prevention-focused system addresses licensing/registration, CFIA oversight, inspection, compliance/enforcement, and system performance. Each licensee would be required to have a preventive control plan that includes:

• physical structure and maintenance
• equipment design and maintenance
• employee hygiene and training
• sanitation and pest control
• product/process control
• transportation and storage
• traceability and recall
• company verification processes

Within each of these areas, the plan would need to include the expected outcome; designated person responsible; procedures, such as control activities, monitoring activities, corrective actions; monitoring frequency; records and document control; and verification.

CFIA offers a Q&A on the proposal. Comments are due October 31. What do you think of this proposal? Let’s talk about it in the Global Trade Community on PMA Xchange.