Here’s a head-scratcher, though I guess we should have seen it coming. In a UPI report, “Chicago Public Schools officials said vegetables being harvested from school gardens are bound for sale rather than school cafeterias.” The garden production practices at the 40 school gardens didn’t meet the rules. “In order to use food in the school food program, it would need to meet specific/certified growing practices,” school district spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

There you go. A problem faced in the industry over and over. The producers (in this case the kids, teachers, etc.) didn’t get clear with the receiver (in this case the folks who run the school food sourcing operations) before they planted, tended, and harvested their crops. So the crops will either be sold in the marketplace or given away. And we see that in industry, too – product rejected by a buyer moving off to another sales outlet or being given to charity.

These are some interesting marketplace lessons for some young growers in Chicago.

Earlier this year, PMA, PrimusLabs.com, and Sysco announced a partnership to develop a series of one-day programs uniquely tailored to help local growers understand the food safety requirements of foodservice distributors and develop an effective food safety plan. The next one-day program (sponsored by FreshPoint) will be held November 10 in Santa Monica, California.

In addition to exploring the modern reality of food safety mandates and how to build a solid food safety program, attendees will also get tips on how to prepare for Good Agricultural Practices audits and follow-up steps after an audit. The workshop will close with guidance on how to proceed, and where to go for help when additional resources are needed.

The workshop registration fee is $75. To register, visit the PMA website.

As I write this, I’m checking my word count…you’ll see why.

At Fresh Summit, one of the keynoters gave a follow-up workshop on social media. As our industry’s marketers continue to embrace this type of outreach, 200 of the most eager listened to David Nour give tips. Among them, in no particular order:

• The value of a presentation isn’t measured by its weight. Keep it short, concise. (As you’ll see, he’s all about content-packed brevity).
• There are five places you have to have a presence on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Slideshare.
• The ideal blog length is 300-500 words. (Write tight is how I learned in journalism school.)
• Online eyes are browsers, not readers. Keep it short - bullet points or sound bites.
• Build your brand online: “If you don’t toot your own horn, there’s no music.” This goes for people and companies.
• Engage people on social networks to build evangelists for you and/or your company. They’ll spread your message.
• To succeed on social networks, align business goals with the stakeholders you want.

Nour had other great information. You can get that and other post-convention value soon at the PMA website.

(This post comes in at just more than 200 words.)

Nutrition rating systems and symbols on the fronts of food packaging would be most useful to shoppers if they highlighted four nutrients of greatest concern – calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium – says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. These food components are routinely over-consumed and associated most strongly with diet-related health problems affecting many Americans, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Up next for the IOM committee is a review of research on how consumers understand and use different types of nutritional information; it’ll also issue a second report recommending ways to optimize the usefulness of front-of-package nutrition rating systems and symbols, along with an assessment of the pros and cons of having a single, standardized front-label food guidance system that is regulated by FDA.

Most recently at Fresh Summit last week, we took a look at produce labeling trends during a workshop. There the panelists suggested that fruit and vegetable marketers use their labeling more effectively to help consumers understand the nutritional benefits of produce and make better choices, and to drive their produce sales. Other labeling tidbits from the session were:

• Draw them in visually with a finished dish photo and idea.
• Provide basic preparation/usage instructions as a minimum.
• Give them recipes for new ways to use your product.
• Become part of the center of the plate.
• If your product is one that many consumers are not familiar with, give them comparisons against things they know, such as flavor, texture, familiar product replacement uses.
• Use your package space wisely to connect with consumers.

In a different workshop session I was in, a speaker suggested that marketers who use paper bag/baskets to sell bulk items (such as apples or pears) consider switching to clear plastic bags. Why? Some shoppers think you’re trying move lower-quality fruit in the brown bags because you can’t see what’s in the bag.

Just some more food for thought from Orlando.

Last Friday. FDA hosted an industry call on new reports on retail and foodservice food safety risk factors. On the call, FDA talked about initiatives to improve food safety overall – desires to see the Food Code adopted more uniformly across local jurisdictions, expectations for developing best safety practices, thoughts about advising that every outlet have a certified food safety pro. You can hear a replay of the call from now until November 5. If you’re in the United States and Canada, dial (800) 947-6452. International callers should dial (402) 220-4085.

The call was prompted by the agency’s release of its trend analysis report, a ten-year study to measure trends in the occurrence of food preparation practices and employee behaviors at the retail and foodservice level that are believed to most commonly contribute to foodborne illness outbreaks. The report looks at nine facility types, including restaurants and produce departments. In the risk factor study, each type showed improvements, but some were statistically significant, including improvements in produce departments, fast-food restaurants, and full-service restaurants. Impressively, the improvements in produce departments met the FDA goals set in 2008. FDA officials cautioned, however, that there is still room for improvement in all facility types, particularly in three risk factors: (1) poor personal hygiene, (2) improper holding of food, and (3) contaminated food surfaces and equipment.

In the personal hygiene area, “in compliance rates” were 76% for fast food restaurants, 59% for full-service restaurants, and 85% for produce departments. The report details other factors and compliance rates if you want to dig deeper into the results and statistics.

What these results say to us, however, goes beyond numbers. As we all know, food safety is essential at every link the distribution chain. Tools such as risk assessment and risk management, training and education of all employees, instilling a food safety culture from the top down: food safety is a never-ending cycle of continuous improvement.

We offer food safety resources to our members via the PMA website, through PMA events like Fresh Connections and local grower training, through support of the Center for Produce Safety, and through blogs like Ask Dr. Bob and this one.

As we all know (and as the FDA call pointed out), when it comes to food safety, we’re never finished – there’s always something more to learn, something more to do.

Did you see The New York Times piece on pesticide residues this week? Writer James McWilliams often cited the Alliance for Food and Farming’s science-based critique of lists like the “Dirty Dozen” as he questioned whether politics rather than science and common sense will prevail. He noted other scientific reports, including opinions from the Institute of Food Technologists, that clearly indicate that eating fruits and vegetables – any of them, regardless of how they are produced – is good for you. He also mentioned EPA’s rigorous regulation of pesticides.

It’s great to have such voices of reason out there. We each need to lend our voices as well. The information from the Alliance is available to you. Just go to the website, www.safefruitsandveggies.com, to find all the tools you need. If you see reports about these lists designed to help scare-mongers raise money, pull out those tools to shed light on the truth of the matter. Or let us know about it and we’ll do it.

It’s our job to tell our story, and for too long others have been doing it for us – and not in a good way. Not only do we have the facts about pesticide residues, we also have the facts about the cost of fresh produce to consumers. That’s another myth-buster. Make sure your story is out there. PMA has the tools to help you. Collectively we can be the source of accurate information about our products.

Produce companies in the Los Angeles area are invited to learn more about the advantages and benefits to be had from enhancing their product traceability capability by implementing the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) at a new PMA Traceability Symposium on November 9.

The day-long event at the Sheraton Cerritos will introduce attendees to the new vision for PTI, explore why industry change is both needed and wanted, explain how to implement the PTI and dispel common misconceptions about the initiative. The Los Angeles symposium is presented by PMA in partnership with PMA-member Fresh Produce and Floral Council, along with presenting sponsor iGPS, and participating sponsors Bunzl/TrueTrack, HarvestMark and Redline Solutions. Included among the symposium’s speakers are:

• Sherri McGarry, Foodborne Outbreak Coordinator, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will set the stage by addressing the difficulties with the current traceback system.
• Jamie Strachan, President of Growers Express, will give a first-hand account of how traceability not only improved his company’s operations, but also protected its bottom line.
• Ed Treacy, Vice President of Supply Chain Efficiencies for PMA, will moderate a special buyer’s discussion that includes panelist Mike Agostini, Senior Director, Produce, from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

For more details or to register, visit the PMA Traceability Symposium website.

For those who were in Orlando last weekend, you know how busy it was at the 2010 edition of Fresh Summit. There was a lot going on – from educational programming, to the Exposition, to networking receptions at Fresh Summit.

But also tucked into the event’s schedule were industry meetings. Kathy Means recently talked here on the blog about her experiences at the North American Trade Council and Minor Crop Farmers’ Alliance meetings; another Fresh Summit meeting of importance to our industry was that of the newly formed Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) Leadership Council.

The council’s inaugural meeting included an orientation to the PTI’s new governance structure, including the council, a forthcoming Executive Committee, and its working and interest groups. Council members, who include retailers, foodservice executives and growers, shared their implementation plans and experiences, and provided their input on the PTI’s development moving forward. In the process, they validated PTI’s goal of whole-chain, electronic traceability and its milestones. Chairs and co-chairs of the PTI’s new working groups provided updates on their groups’ initial meetings.

In its first official action, the council approved a proposal from the new Implementation and Technical Working Groups to update the labeling requirements to include a four-digit voice pick code. This change will help overcome a barrier to implementation of Milestone 7 (“Read and store information on outbound cases”). The council adopted the open-source Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) 16 algorithm to calculate the voice pick code, which will eliminate the need to scan outbound cases in those operations that utilize a voice-directed picking system. The Implementation Working Group will conduct pilot tests and develop best practices to aid industry in implementing this “PTI voice pick code” solution.

For more information, visit the PTI website. For those keenly interested in traceability, check back in tomorrow when I’ll have more details on our Los Angeles traceability symposium slated for early November.

At Fresh Summit, PMA revealed its new research that details what it costs consumers to eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables (or 4.5 cups), the recommended amount for healthy adults. Depending on how intent a consumer is on finding bargains, s/he can get nine servings for $2.18 (not very intent), $1.40 (fairly intent), or 88 cents (very intent). This research from the Perishables Group debunks the idea that eating healthfully (healthfully = full complement of fresh produce in this case) is expensive.

PMA undertook this research to give members the tools to counter the idea that fresh produce is for those who are well-off. It shows that produce is the ultimate value meal, and it gives our members outstanding marketing messages and merchandising opportunities to appeal to all consumers. But this information is important to many beyond the industry – consumers, consumer advocates, legislative and regulatory officials, health advocates, and more. We’ll be working to get the word out. We hope you will use this information proactively to let consumers know how affordable fresh produce is. And you can use it reactively whenever you see a report that implies fresh produce is out of reach of certain consumers.

A recurrent theme at Fresh Summit in Orlando was that we need to tell our story – we need to be in charge of those messages. With this research, you have what you need. The implications are important:

• Even at ‘everyday’ prices, produce is a great value – at $2.18 for nine servings.
• This value is consistent across the U.S., all year, even with great variety.
• Price-conscious consumers can save nearly 35% by focusing on lower-cost categories every day, getting nine servings for $1.40.
• Budget consumers can save over 60% by focusing purchases on ‘sale or promoted’ items when shopping, and get that amount for 88 cents.

Help us get the word out. Use this to boost your connection with consumers, to tell your story, and to boost your sales.

For those that missed it, on Saturday morning here at Fresh Summit in Orlando, noted retail consultant Harold Lloyd led a panel of supermarket produce department managers in a discussion of consumer trends they are seeing in their respective market areas. The managers represented stores in California, Utah, Illinois, and Florida. It was a very engaging session with lots of interactivity between the panelists and the audience, some highlights of which included:

• To draw customers deeper into the produce department, one manager said his store intentionally re-sets and moves the location of fruits and vegetables within the department to disrupt customer flow. In his mind, this alleviates the “freeway effect” of shoppers getting in and out quickly and gives his staff an opportunity to interact with customers and offer samples.
• On the food safety front, all the managers said food safety is a top priority and that the concept of passive sampling (envision some cut produce covered by a clear plastic dome with a sign saying “Please take one”) is in decline, with some saying they’ve done away with the practice entirely. All managers said they conduct manual temperature checks on their produce display cases every four hours to maintain cold chain integrity.
• With regard to pesticides, the managers said that questions from consumers about pesticide residues remain about the same; however, they said they are fielding more questions about where produce comes from.
• And speaking of country of origin, the managers reported they’ve seen a great deal of improvement from the industry in origin information on pre-labeled product. One manager said his customers care about the COO issue, especially when there are recalls.
• On farmers’ markets and local produce, it was really interesting to see an example of how one retailer has used the icon of an interstate highway sign to convey the concept of locally grown – but with the phrase “food miles” printed across the top of the icon, with the actual miles in the center of it.
• Finally, to match customers’ price sensitivities with regard to the recession, one retailer show how his store has scaled its package sizes for its in-store produce programs to correspond with shopping patterns (when customers were spending more, they used a large clamshell; when their customers were spending less, they used a smaller package; and with gradual increased spending, they’ve moved to a mid-size option).

Out of all the ideas presented the one that stood out to me the most was the use of the highway sign icon to communicate food miles. As I saw it on the screen, it was one of those “wow, that is a really good and smart idea because it’s something most people can readily and quickly identify” moments you get at a show like Fresh Summit. I hope those of you here in Orlando are getting plenty great ideas for your businesses.