Reds down but not out

The US Apple Association reports that gala variety apple production will narrowly edge golden delicious for the second straight year as the No. 2 apple variety. Of course, goldens have owned the runner up spot to red delicious for many years. U.S.red delicious production for this year is forecast at almost double gala - 53 million cartons compared with 28 million cartons - but reds are down a whopping 10 million cartons from a year ago.

Halo of local v. organic

Local produce or organic produce - which has the stronger pull on the consumer? Don Harris, vice president of produce and floral for Wild Oats Markets Inc., Boulder, Colo. addressed the Aug. 24 session of the U.S. Apple Association in Chicago. After his presentation on organics at retail (covered separately for The Packer), Harris entertained a few questions from the crowd.

One the questions addressed the appeal of local versus organic produce. Particularly, how does Wild Oats weigh the appeal of organic produce from another state compared with locally grown conventional produce?

Interestingly, Harris said the stronger "halo" effect is often all about local produce.
"We would stay with the local (deal) till it is done and go to the other; we find local conventional produce has a better halo effect than organic from another area," Harris said. "The magic is to have organic and local."

I asked Don if Wild Oats uses loyalty cards.

As an aside, I have mixed feelings about loyalty cards. I enjoy not having to use a loyalty card, but of course if you comparison shop at some supermarkets you are compelled to pick up shopper or loyalty cards or feel the pain in your wallet. Thus, I have three "loyalty" cards.

Back to Don. He said Wild Oats issued loyalty cards to their shoppers about three years ago, and 58% of those who received them mailed them back. "It was an invasion of privacy to some of them," he said. Perhaps it relates to the old "hippie" ways of anti-establishment, but for whatever reason, Wild Oats shoppers have generally not been receptive to the idea.

"Some sent the cards back whole, some in pieces and some with colorful phrases and metaphors," Harris said with a smile. He noted Whole Food also reportedly found only spotty acceptance when they have attempted loyalty cards.

Don had a meaty, statistic-filled presentation to the U.S. Apple Outlook conference, and provided the kind of buyer to supplier input that every grower meeting should strive to secure.

Career killer?

One of the produce industry's biggest champions in the Senate may be a lame duck. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Ida., is expected to announce in September whether he will run for reelection in 2008. However, recent events may have taken the drama out of it. This report in Roll Call details Craig's plea of disorderly conduct earlier this year related to an incident in a restroom of the Minneapolis Airport.
From the Roll Call story of Aug. 27:

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.

TK: Here is a link to the backstory about Sen. Craig, including previous murky allegations dating from more than 20 years ago. Here is coverage from today's Idaho Statesman. Obviously, Craig's GOP conservative family values work against him big time in this case, though it is not inconceivable that he could somehow get past this. It is unfortunate for the industry that Sen. Craig may be wounded and ineffective in advancing AgJobs and specialty crop priorities in the farm bill. In the words of one lobbyist, Craig has carried an " awful lot of the industry's water" in the U.S. Senate. "This is not helpful."