Produce promotions - summer deals aplenty

Consumers better enjoy summer produce deals while they can get them, and there is a pretty broad range of bargains available right now.

The weekly food ads in the Kansas City market featured "mega-fresh" savings from Hy-Vee, with a three day ad (Aug. 21-23) for bananas at just 39 cents per pound and a 5.6 ounce container of Oregon blackberries at $1.98. Meanwhile, the Aug. 20 to 26 ad featured homegrown muskmelon at 3 for $5 and Colorado peaches at $1.38 per pound. Olathe, Colo. sweet corn was featured at 8 for $2.88, with mangoes at 3 for $2 and thompson seedless grapes at $1.28 per pound.

Hen House countered with locally grown seedless watermelons at $3.49 each and a locally grown peaches at $4.50 per basket.

Price Chopper's three day sale (Aug. 21-23) featured red seedless grapes at 99 cents per pound and Dole classic salad mix at 10 for $10(!!??), while their weekly ad (Aug. 20-26) highlighted peaches for 99 cents per pound and new crop California bartlett pears or California red or black plums for $1.19 per pound.

All in all, some pretty attractive summer fruit bargains this week.

Hot off the Web

An email with links to new resources from UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center:

Over the past few weeks we have been busy adding quite a bit of new information to our Web site. Our “Postharvest Publications Organized by Topic” data store grew by more than a dozen articles. This searchable resource is one of the best resources for postharvest information. The following new articles were added:

· Perspective: Flavor Quality of Fruits & Vegetables by Adel A. Kader. Journal of the Sciences of Food and Agriculture 88:1863-1868 (2008)

· Status of Energy Use and Conservation Technologies used in Fruit and Vegetable Cooling Operations in California by James F. Thompson and R. Paul Singh. California Energy Commission. 53 pages (2008)

· Impact of Ripening & Storage Conditions on Ripe Tomato Quality by Marita Cantwell. A PowerPoint presentation from the International Tomato Congress. (2008)

· San Joaquin Valley Blueberries Evaluated for Quality Attributes by Vanessa Bremer, Gayle Crisosto, Richard Molinar, Manuel Jimenez, Stephanie Dollahite, and Carlos H. Crisosto. California Agriculture Journal. July-September 2008, pages 91-96.

· Evaluation of the Effect of Different Modified Atmosphere Packaging Box Liners on the Quality and Shelf Life of ‘Friar’ Plums by Celia M. Cantín, Carlos H. Crisosto, and Kevin R. Day. HortTechnology 18:261-265 (2008)

· Leucoanthocyanidin Dioxygenase Gene (PpLDOX): A Potential Functional Marker for Cold Storage Browning in Peach by E.A. Ogundiwin, C.P. Peace, C.M. Nicolet, V.K. Rashbrook, T.M. Gradziel, F.A. Bliss, D. Parfitt, and C.H. Crisosto. Tree Genetics & Genomes 4:543-554 (2008)

· Application of Abscisic Acid (ABA) at Veraison Advanced Red Color Development and Maintained Postharvest Quality of ‘Crimson Seedless’ Grapes by Celia M. Cantín, Matthew W. Fidelibus, and Carlos H. Crisosto. Postharvest Biology and Technology 46:237-241 (2008)

· Novel 1-methylcyclopropene Immersion Formulation Extends Shelf Life of Advanced Maturity ‘Joanna Red’ Plums (Prunus salicina Lindell) by G.A. Manganaris, C.H. Crisosto, V. Bremer, and D. Holcroft. Postharvest Biology and Technology 47:429-433 (2008)

· Predicting Pitting Damage During Processing in Californian Clingstone Peaches Using Color and Firmness Measurements by C.H. Crisosto, C. Valero, and D.C. Slaughter. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 23:189-194 (2007)

· Cell Wall Modifications in Chilling-injured Plum Fruit (Prunus salicina) by G.A. Manganaris, A.R. Vicente, C.H. Crisosto, and J.M. Labavitch. Postharvest Biology and Technology 48:77-83 (2008)

· Combination of Postharvest Antifungal Chemical Treatments and Controlled Atmosphere Storage to Control Gray Mold and Improve Storability of ‘Wonderful’ Pomegranates by Lluís Palou, Carlos H. Crisosto, and David Garner. Postharvest Biology and Technology 43:133-142 (2007)

· Improvement of Storability and Shelf-life of ‘Blackamber’ Plums Treated with 1-methylcyclopropene by A.P. Candan, J. Graell, C. Crisosto, and C. Larrigaudière. Food Science and Technology International 15:437-444 (2006)

· Peach Quality and Postharvest Technology by C.H. Crisosto. Acta Hort 713:479-488 (2006)

· Genetic Control of Internal Breakdown in Peach by C.P. Peace, C.H. Crisosto, D.T. Garner, A.M. Dandekar, T.M. Gradziel, and F.A. Bliss. Acta Hort 713:489-496 (2006)

· Understanding Tree Fruit Quality Based on Consumer Acceptance by C.H. Crisosto, G. Crisosto, and F. Neri. Acta Hort 712:183 (2006)

· Early Harvest Delays Berry Skin Browning of ‘Princess’ Table Grapes by Pablo M. Vial, Carlos H. Crisosto, and Gayle M. Crisosto. California Agriculture Journal April-June 2005, pages 103-108.

· Influence of Irrigation Method and Scheduling on Patterns of Soil and Tree Water Status and Its Relation to Yield and Fruit Quality in Peach by David R. Bryla, Elizabeth Dickson, Robert Shenk, R. Scott Johnson and Carlos H. Crisosto, and Thomas J. Trout. HortScience 40:2118-2124 (2005)

June 2007 – July 2008 Addendum Available

Dr. Adel Kader has compiled Addendum #5 listing recently-published postharvest publications by category, and it has been added to our “List of Selected References” Web page.

Postharvest Yellowpages Updated

With the help of three of our great student assistants, we went through every business listed on our Postharvest Yellowpages and updated their information. This is an excellent tool if you need anything from ethylene absorbers to orchard ladders, and the list of over 500 businesses is constantly growing.

Is dietary knowledge enough? Was Rome built in a day?

A new USDA ERS report asks the rhetorical question, "Is dietary knowledge enough?" The full title of the report is "Is Dietary Knowledge Enough? Hunger, Stress, and Other Roadblocks to Healthy Eating."

Of course, we all know that dietary knowledge is indeed not enough, or else many of use would be eating far more vegetables and fruits and far fewer cookies and $1 double cheeseburgers. But the report gives a much fuller examination of the issue, and points the finger at away from home eating as the downfall of many. From the report's summary:

When individuals extend the interval between meals or consume more of their food away from home, they are significantly more likely to consume more calories and more calories from solid fats, alcohol, and added sugars (discretionary calories) at each eating occasion. For example, going 5 hours between meals instead of 4 adds about 52 calories for someone on a diet of 2,000 calories per day; extending that interval from 4 to 6 hours would add about 91 calories to the meal. Going longer stretches between meals is also estimated to lower diet quality at each meal. The location at which someone makes his or her food choices and when these choices are made significantly affects what and how much is consumed. Not surprisingly, people are estimated to consume more calories when eating foods from a restaurant compared with foods prepared at home—about 107 more calories per meal. The model suggests that people who work more hours in a week—a proxy for time pressures—are also more influenced by the interval between meals than those who work fewer hours. As an individual who works more hours in a week goes longer between meals, he or she will choose a meal that is significantly higher in calories, higher in discretionary calories, and lower in diet quality. At 4 hours between meals, an individual who works 40 hours a week is estimated to eat about 20 percent more calories than someone who is not employed. At 8 hours between meals, the calorie discrepancy jumps to nearly 40 percent.
Our model shows that a situational change in caloric intake and diet quality is more pronounced among individuals who are less informed about diet and nutrition. A person with a knowledge score of 50 (from USDA’s Diet and Health Knowledge Survey) is estimated to increase per-meal caloric intake by about 28 percent when eating away from home, while a person whose score is 100 points is estimated to eat about only 12 percent more calories. As people change their dietary goals based on prevailing nutritional beliefs, situational factors like hunger and time pressures will continue to interfere with long-term health objectives. Making specific reference to such situations and suggesting ways to mitigate their effects should enhance the usefulness of educational campaigns designed to improve diet quality. For example, encouraging consumers to take more active control in limiting the interval between meals and choosing nutrient-dense snacks, such as fruits and vegetables, may help them better align their intentions to eat well with their actual behavior. Limiting intake of foods prepared away from home is also estimated to significantly decrease caloric consumption. Thus, another possibility would be to encourage individuals to plan ahead or seek out information about nutrient and caloric content of foods prepared away from home.

TK: The message: eat at home and don't wait so long between meals. Practical tips for consumers in their semi-serious quest to lose weight.

WTO - Never been so close to an agreement

This just slid across the inbox from the WTO. Sounds like hope for a WTO agreement is hard to kill. From the WTO:

Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his remarks at the opening of the “Global Partnership for Development” conference in New Delhi on 12 August 2008, said that at the end of the Geneva talks last month “members told us very clearly that the negotiations should not be abandoned ... too much has been achieved now to simply leave it aside”. This is what he said:

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends. I wish to start by congratulating Pradeep Mehta for his perfect sense of timing. It would be difficult to think of a better time for this Conference to take place — and I am particularly grateful to CUTS for the invitation and for opportunity to come to India at this stage.

Before entering into the subject of “Global Partnership for Development”, I wish to share with you what we were told by the WTO Members last month, two days after the ministers failed to reach an agreement on the Agricultural and industrial pillar of the Doha Round modalities: we have never been so close to an agreement. This is not rhetoric. This is the truth of where we stand: what Ministers and senior officials managed to achieve in the week they spent in Geneva late July is absolutely remarkable.

In fact, in purely technical terms, the issues already agreed by the group of Ministers with whom I was holding the most intensive consultations — and whose countries represent more than 80% of world trade — would be sufficient for the drafting of schedules of commitments in Agriculture and NAMA.

The political reality, nonetheless, is that we must wrap up a few remaining issues, and build consensus amongst all Members, before we can start the scheduling process, which would lead to the conclusion of the Round.

Among these few remaining issues, the most difficult one is the question of the Agricultural Special Safeguard Mechanism for developing countries. There are two diverging views on the so-called SSM, which proved to be impossible to reconcile during the meeting in July.

One view is that developing countries need to have a safety net against import surges of agricultural products, in order to be able to protect their farming systems, and that this safeguard should be easy to use.

Another view is that, like all safeguards in the GATT and WTO, the SSM should be subject to certain conditions and limitations, in order to ensure that that it does not hamper normal trade flows and that it should not be abused.

In spite of these differences, what Members told us very clearly during the plenary meetings held at the end of the talks, is that the negotiations should not be abandoned at this point. In the view of our Members, too much has been achieved now, to simply leave it aside.

If I say this, it is because I remain convinced that the WTO's mandate regarding the gradual removal of obstacles to trade, framed with multilateral trading rules, constitutes an essential contribution to development and to the improvement of collective well-being. Trade is a development tool. A successful conclusion of the Round, by addressing obstacles to trade which today penalize particularly developing countries, can be a powerful instrument to fight for development in the hands of countries.

Let me give you one figure: if the Round is successfully concluded, the world would reduce by half the amount of imports tariffs paid today. There would be savings in the order to US 150 billion in tariffs. Developing countries would contribute to 1/3 of the savings, and would benefit from 2/3 of it. Developed countries would contribute with 2/3 of the savings. So, at the end of the day, developing countries would benefit from 2/3 of the increased market access resulting from the Round, and developed countries would benefit 1/3. This is truly a development Round.

This is just a snapshot of what could be saved but it does not say how much more trade would grow with the reduction of barriers. A lot of studies have been published with result varying depending on the assumptions made.

It also does not tell us how the gains from trade would be shared within each country. This is in the hands of each government and depends largely on domestic policies which span beyond the WTO reach.

Let me give you another example: if the Round is concluded with success, the US could see the amount of trade distorting subsidies reduced to US 14.5 billion. True, this is more than the US currently spends. But if this ceiling is not set, the US will be able to spend much more than that in trade distorting subsidies as soon as food prices decline. In fact it has done so in 8 of the last 10 years. True also that this figure is still high and that many of you would think that the amount would be zero. But let me clear, without the Round the amount could reach US 48 billion.

To come back to the WTO, the basic underlying philosophy shared by all WTO members is that gradual market opening is good. At the same time, we know that market opening is not, in itself, sufficient to create and ensure development. I cannot overstress this point: opening up of trade will only deliver real benefits if it is accompanied by other policies, which allow for flexibility and job security: education policy, employment policy, research or innovation policy to name a few.

Some of these must be implemented at national level while others are effective only if applied internationally through the joint-action of specialized agencies. And this is where a discussion on Global Partnership comes in.

Coherence between the various international public policies — and they are eminently complementary — is absolutely essential.

Harnessing globalization and ensuring global partnerships for development presupposes balanced international cooperation across the board. The best trade policy cannot alone promote growth and development. Sound macro-economic policies must be supplemented by structural policies.

The WTO favours trade openness as playing a vital role in members' growth and development. But as I said, this is only part of the task. An open economy is not a panacea for all the challenges of development, neither is it necessarily easy to accomplish, nor in many circumstances can it be effective unless it is embedded in a supportive economic, social and political context and in a coherent multi-faceted policy framework. And this is also about international coherence.

To use a phrase crafted by our Appellate Body, the WTO does not live in “clinical isolation”. Global problems require global replies — and the WTO must be part of the process of finding such replies.

Let's take the example of the Food Price Crisis. The negotiations in the WTO on agriculture subsidies and market access are part of the medium and long term solution to the food shortage. We know that we need to increase agriculture production in developing countries and one of the reasons why their production and exports have been discouraged is because of trade distorting subsidies and high tariffs in rich countries. Trade can play the role of better connecting supply and demand. This is true locally, regionally and world wide.

In this field, as in many others, the WTO is in constant dialogue with other international organisations and indeed gives legal weight to norms developed by them, as evidenced on many occasions by decisions made under the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding.

In practice, there are day-to-day exchanges that take place amongst secretariats of international organizations — UNCTAD, FAO, UNEP, World Bank, IMF, regional development banks, World Customs Organisation, OECD etc. Cooperation in global economic policy-making goes much beyond the WTO's formal and specific arrangements.

Trying to find solutions through global partnerships also helps reinforce more global governance, which I believe is needed if we want the world we live in to be less violent, be it social, political, economic or environmental violence, and more peaceful, plentiful and prosperous. Stable and updated trade rules, and a strong WTO, reinforced by a successful conclusion of the DDA, would be a key step in that direction.

I know that CUTS share this view and acts, through its various programmes, as an interface between civil society, government and international organisations, which is why we are very glad to see its presence reinforced with the opening of a new office in Geneva.

In these turbulent times, at a moment when multilateralism and international cooperation are challenged on many fronts, we need more organisations like CUTS to help us all build the necessary bridges.

Warning! Hard Drive Full

In his retirement, the immensely talented but psychotic baseball great Ty Cobb had a standard response to any human being that dared disagree with anything he had to say:

'Don't...heighten...my tension level!!'

It probably doesn't surprise the readership here that I feel that way myself sometimes. And in my quasi-paranoid state lately, I find that there have been oh so many obstacles to true serenity. The traffic, especially here in Chicago, where this summer there are three major expressways under construction at the same time, a brilliant stroke of genius. The computers, where I used to be on the cutting edge, and could take apart a desktop and reassemble it without more than five pieces left laying on the floor. But that was in the day of Windows 3.1---aren't they all the way up to Win95 now?

But I've found the gold standard, the holy grail, that will rocket a man's stress level to epic proportions. It took place late this afternoon, when after work I needed to replenish grocery supplies at the local Dominick's supermarket, which has been commandeered by Safeway for lo these many years.

It had been a long drive from the office, finishing a workday where the computer network had freaked for no apparent reason. I walked in to the store, organized list in hand, and found that at least half the items were in different places. Spatial reorganization. For a minute I thought I was in a recurrent dream where things are the same yet a little different, only in this reality I was still wearing my pants.

But wandering aimlessly to the aisle that originally had Kalamata olives only to find SOS pads is disconcerting indeed, leading me to the inevitable passing thought that all of us middle-agers (Marrone, when did I become one of them?) have during the occasional brain cramp--'is this me all the time twenty years from now?'

And believe me, I wasn't the only one questioning this move. Almost every shopper was in the same rudderless boat as I, peering from behind their carts in a zombie-like trance. Our eyes would meet with a knowing, sad look that said, yes, we have to learn the whole damn store layout all over again. Problem is, I'm at the point in my existence where no new information can be stored in my brain without some other data having to be removed, and I might need that stuff!

More important than my wretched reaction to the change is trying to determine the purpose of this dastardly action. In this world, I suppose it's possible that some Safeway honcho came down from Pleasanton, CA to northern Illinois, surveyed the situation & then the dull, corporate lightbulb went off in his head.

"Eureka! Call the minions! I've got a way to make myself look good, find busy work for these lowly storepeople to offset lack of sales, and maybe move a few more Safeway Select macadamia nut cookies at the same time. We'll move everything around! Don't worry, the customers will adapt."

Later,

Jay

Blogger unfrozen

I think the blog is back and running now. I had the day off today (Friday) but I found that I couldn't log on to this old familiar friend this morning. But the problem seems to have gone away and hopefully we will see no more technical difficulties for a while.

Meanwhile, checkout the National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report here. From the Aug. 1 report:

Retailers Embrace, Highlight Local Produce
Retailers continued to entice customers with bountiful summer produce and many distinguished locally grown products in ads. Some even described the farm and published pictures of local growers. Throughout the store, retailers were using a variety of promotional tactics to attract business. These included “buy-one-get-one-free”, “buy-one-get-two-free”, 5 for $5, 10 for $10, double coupons, and rewards for gas and extra savings. There were also some scattered back-to-school features noted. Overall, fresh produce ad activity increased more than 10% this week and was a combination of increases of 8% in fruits and nearly 14% in vegetables. Fruits once again this week made up the top 5 featured items: peaches, grapes, nectarines, cherries, and cantaloupes. Stone fruits and melons were the most often featured fruits. Zucchini, tomatoes,green peppers and corn were the most often featured vegetables.In addition to the items reported, many other seasonal items were noted in features. These included: a variety of melons,kiwi, figs, white flesh peaches and nectarines, many fresh herbs, heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, yellow squash, and green onions.

Poll closed and new poll

Here is a wrap on the poll that ended today:


Would the U.S. benefit from a single food safety agency?
Yes 9 (45%)

No 5 (25%)

Perhaps in the long term but change would cause problems in the beginning 6 (30%)

TK: No overwhelming mandate, but the poll reveals more people than not believe a single food safety agency is a long term solution. Check out the results of all 47 previous Fresh Talk polls here.

Meanwhile, this week's poll question is easy: How much time do you think you spend on the Web during the work day?

Big deal or no big deal

Is the salmonella outbreak, which has sickened over 1,000 - and made many tomato handlers substantially poorer - a big deal? Here is an interesting take passed on by Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network from NextGov on comments by David Acheson.

As of today, nearly 1,000 people have been sickened, one person has died, and at least $150 million has been lost by tomato growers and sellers (and probably more now that peppers, onions and cilantro are becoming suspects) because of a salmonella outbreak as of yet unknown origin.

Not to worry, though. It isn’t a big deal.

To quote Dr. David Acheson, food safety chief of the Food and Drug Administration, “We’re a nation of 300 million people who eat two-to-three times a day. To have 800 people sick is not that big of a deal.”

OK, Acheson has a point: 1,000 out of 304,554,835 (according to theUS Census population clock as of this post) is only 3.2834809534381550698415278811778e-6 percent, if my fingers hit the calculator correctly. [Which they didn't the first time - it should be .00003% - which a sharp reader caught - see comments below.]

But that perspective leads, of course, to the question of what does the FDA believe is a BIG DEAL?

Is it 3,000 people sick? 100,000? Even a million is only a statistical blip.

Or how about deaths? About 5,500 people die every day in the United States. One person dying from salmonella over a couple months is not a Big Deal either to the FDA, I gather from Acheson’s comments.

So, exactly what is the level necessary for the sick or dying to be considered a Big Deal?

Of course, not only do we need to know what a Big Deal is in relation to a single event, but also from a multiple event perspective.

Over the last decade, there have been 13 salmonella outbreaks from tomatoes alone. And this count doesn’t include other food-borne problems, like E. coli or Hepatitis A. (Remember spinach and green onions?)

Once we know what FDA's Big Deal risk threshold is (and what's the Agriculture Department's as well for meats and dairy products -- remember Taco Bell?), we can then start to figure out the true cost/benefit to putting in a food tracing system that Allan Holmeswrote about.

In fact, we may find that we don’t even need an FDA, as the late Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman argued.

CDC map, media and jalapeno peppers

Here in Nebraska for the July 4 weekend, I was listening this morning to KRVN radio when I heard an update on the salmonella outbreak. According to the newscaster, investigators now believe jalapeno peppers may be the culprit, but then, at the same time, tomatoes may still not be off the hook. Good grief, what is going on here? Even the Nebraska corn farmers who watched the Bertrand fireworks show with us last night remarked that the government should probably say nothing until they know something. So I'm going online and trying to figure out what the "latest" communication from the feds is.

From the CDC on July 4:

Since April, 943 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. No new states report ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (10), Arizona (45), California (8), Colorado (12), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (24), Idaho (4), Illinois (93), Indiana (14), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (22), Michigan (7), Minnesota (8), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (9), New Mexico (98), New York (28), North Carolina (10), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (23), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (8), Texas (356), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (10), and the District of Columbia (1). One ill person is reported from Ontario, Canada. The ill person reported travel to the United States and became ill on the day of the return trip to Canada.
Among the 645 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 26, 2008, including 225 who became ill on June 1 or later. Many steps must occur between a person becoming ill and the determination that the illness was caused by the outbreak strain of Salmonella; these steps take an average of 2-3 weeks. Therefore, an illness reported today may have begun 2-3 weeks ago. Patients range in age from <1 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Saintpaul at the time of his death; the infection may have contributed to his death.

From the FDA:

July 5, 2008: At this time, FDA recommends consuming raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw red round tomatoes only if grown and harvested from the following areas that HAVE NOT BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE OUTBREAK:

TK: Doug Powell links to this Baltimore Sun article that was probably the source of the KRVN news item. From the story:

By Jonathan D. Rockoff Sun reporter
July 4, 2008
WASHINGTON - Investigators are seeing more signs that the salmonella outbreak blamed on tomatoes might have been caused by tainted jalapeno peppers and have begun collecting samples from restaurants and from the homes of those who have been sickened, according to health officials involved in the probe.New interviews with those who became infected found that many had eaten jalapeno peppers, often in salsa served with Mexican food, according to two state health officials. So far, none of the jalapenos taken from restaurants and from the homes of those who became ill have tested positive for Salmonella saintpaul.Echoing federal officials, who said this week that tomatoes remain the prime suspect, the health officials said that tomatoes cannot be ruled out as the cause of the outbreak. Investigators have been collecting samples of another possible suspect, cilantro, though the herb is less likely to be the source, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.The outbreak, which began 12 weeks ago, is believed to be the largest of its kind, and new cases continue to emerge. It has sickened more than 920 people across the country, up from 756 one week ago, and sent more than 110 to the hospital. In Maryland, 29 people have been confirmed to have the illness, which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and, in severe cases, death.

In late May, investigators began focusing on tomatoes as the probable source of the outbreak. But they expanded their investigation last week, asking 100 labs around the country to help, because the number of new infections kept growing despite the short shelf life of tomatoes and warnings to avoid certain varieties.Delays in pinpointing the cause of the outbreak have frustrated consumers, angered the produce industry and prompted members of Congress to call for food safety reforms."How sad is that? We can't even really figure out what it is," said Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who has proposed food tracking and mandatory recall measures. "We've had the same problem with other products in past years, which shows us the food safety system in this country is outdated and underfunded."Chile peppers are largely grown in Mexico, Central America and warm weather U.S. states such as Florida. Food-safety specialists said jalapenos are not a common cause of bacterial outbreaks and counseled caution about rushing to judgment that the peppers are responsible for this one.Contaminated green chile peppers in Colorado sickened 80 people in 1998 and 60 in 2001, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which tracks food-borne illnesses. Neither outbreak involved salmonella bacteria.A likely source of jalepeno contamination is the water used to irrigate plants or wash peppers after they're picked, said Robert B. Gravani, a food science professor at Cornell University.One health official involved in the investigation said "loose ends" are keeping tomatoes under suspicion, but the official said they could be accounted for easily. The official said evidence is "piling up" that indicates that jalapenos are to blame. "There's certainly no shred of doubt in my mind," the official said.Another health official was more cautious, saying that the evidence is pointing to peppers but that there is not yet enough information to rule out tomatoes. The official said the Food and Drug Administration is enlisting more labs in the investigation so it can test jalapenos, tomatoes and cilantro more quickly.Both officials played down the likelihood that cilantro is to blame, saying the evidence for that is thin.Health officials fear that an acknowledgment that the outbreak was not caused by tomatoes could undermine confidence in the public health system. Officials are especially worried that it could reduce support for using statistical analysis of interviews with infected people to justify warnings and recalls, despite many previous successes, because officials decided to issue the tomato warning without waiting to find one that was contaminated. Tomato industry groups have criticized the use of statistical analysis and say that government health officials should wait until they find a contaminated product before taking serious actions such as recalls. But government officials say that delaying a warning could cause serious harm to public health, because more people could become sick without an early alert.The tomato industry estimates that it has lost $100 million since the June 10 warning."What makes it so pathetic is there has been nothing found," said Bob Spencer, co-owner of West Coast Tomato, which was forced to stop harvesting its fields in Florida and let tomatoes rot in company warehouses.Liberal interest groups, leading trade associations and congressional critics say the failure to find the outbreak's source, after seven weeks of trying, points up the need for better food tracking systems. They contend that better labeling could quickly lead investigators to a farm that harvested suspicious produce.Some growers and suppliers have such tracking systems in place. Critics say the FDA should require the tracking systems, which provide detailed information about the source and distribution of produce."There is a lot of frustration that the FDA cannot tell us where the tomatoes are from or even whether tomatoes are the cause," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

TK: One unnamed authority says "there is no shred of doubt in my mind" that jalapeno peppers are the link. Are you kidding me? This ragtag investigation by state and federal authorities defies description and characterization. While the tomato industry continues to be under the thumb of federal advisories, a state official says there is "no shred of doubt" about jalapenos? It is hard to imagine a scenario where FDA/CDC come to a clear verdict on the salmonella outbreak that points to anything different than tomatoes, so great would be the outcry against the harm they have done the tomato industry. Astounding.....

Lying about your vegetables

"Approval bias" dogs research efforts to find out what people really eat. How much more do people in the f/v business overestimate their produce consumption? This insightful NYT blog entry looks at the topic. From the post:

It’s long been known that people claim to eat far less than they really do. Some studies suggest people underreport their caloric intake by 30 percent or more.
But when it comes to fruits and vegetables, it appears people lie in the other direction — vowing that they consume far more than they really do. The finding, reported in the current Nutrition Journal, suggests the data the health community has collected on fruit and vegetable consumption are tainted by “approval bias.” We know we are expected to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, so that’s what we say when we are asked, and we may even really believe it


Researchers from the University of Colorado in Denver randomly selected 163 women who were recruited by telephone and told they would be taking part in a general health survey. Half the women were sent a letter describing the survey as a study of fruit and vegetable intake. The letter included a brief statement of the benefits of fruits and vegetables, a Five-A-Day sticker and a Five-a-Day refrigerator magnet. The rest of the group received a general letter, without mention of fruits, vegetables, stickers or magnets.


Within 10 days of receiving the letters, the study subjects answered a food frequency questionnaire and were asked to recall how many fruits and vegetables they had eaten in the past 24 hours.
Because the two groups were randomly selected, average fruit and vegetable consumption should have been similar. However, the group that had seen the five-a-day promotional material reported far higher consumption, 5.2 servings per day, compared to 3.7 per day in the other group. And 61 percent of the five-a-day group reported eating fruits and vegetables on three or more occasions the prior day, compared to just 32 percent in the other group.




TK: Lesson to the industry; don't trust research results when consumers surveyed readily know that the questions are being asked on behalf of a produce group.

Curb Your Enthusiasm? Nonsense!

You know, I think Karst purposely puts these incendiary missives up here to get my goat & make me blog. But that's just business as usual at Paranoid Rage-a-Holics Anonymous...

RE: the Oil Speculator Curbing, I think I'm a fairly savvy investor (just not this last quarter, thankyouverymuch) and in the past I've tried to relate buying stocks or trading options to what we go through daily as produce folks, where we buy & sell with the added wrinkle of time element added. And I've come to this conclusion, for oil as well as tomatoes: the market is the market is the market, and it cannot be controlled. A 402-19 vote to curb speculation? Overwhelming! Me, I'm with the nineteen that saw the 402 for the grandstanders that they are.

You have your supply. You have your demand. And then...you have your psychology-sentiment-fervor-lack of restraint, whatever the heck you want to call it. Certainly, it feeds on itself. Three or four Novembers ago, the California green tomato deal ended abruptly with early rains, the Palmetto/Ruskin (FL) deal wasn't ready, the backyards had the 'blight' (my Iowa mother-in-law thinks every non-perfect tomato in her garden has 'the blight'), and consequently the market shot up to nearly $40.00 FOB.

And we fed into it. Alan Greenspan, the best in the history of Fed chairmen in my opinion, would no doubt have called it 'unbridled enthusiasm'. We knew beyond doubt that supply was coming. But we still bought when we could & made a long profit as the invoice amounts were growing exponentially.

Then, like a switch, demand stopped. Five bucks a pound for a tomato will do that every time. And like a house of cards, it was implosion time. The market was in the teens within a matter of days, and the street guys were dancing to that old accounting tune, FIFO, first-in-first-out, or more accurately, first-loss-best-loss.

The point of all this, from that trying time that put more than a few grey hairs on this head, is that we couldn't control it. No one can. Sure, factor in some greed in these instances, but smart people know about the day of reckoning that is the flipside. And the oil speculators know full well that buying this high, feeding into the frenzy, has the inherent risk of being caught, leaving them to scramble when the music stops and they've run of chairs.

Have a quiet weekend.

Later,

Jay

Tomato repacking - whys and wherefores

It is only speculation at this point, but perhaps part of the difficulty in the FDA's traceback investigation - gaining some speed but still crawling along at this point - may come from the practice of co-mingling of fruit from different origins by tomato repackers. One respected industry leader told me recently that co-mingling of product from different origins may be done for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the main two factors would be creating a more consistent quality/maturity pack and altering the price point by mixing less expensive (but not necessarily poorer quality fruit) with more expensive fruit. From a broader perspective, The Packer's Tom Burfield recently looked at the role of repackers in the tomato business:

From the June 2 edition of The Packer:


When a buyer opens a carton to find tomatoes of consistent color and size, he may well be observing the handiwork of a skilled repacker.

"Repackers are extremely important in our business," said Jeff Dolan, field operations manager for DiMare Newman, Newman, Calif.

Whether a farmer grows mature-green or vine-ripe tomatoes, there's an inherent lack of uniformity in ripening, Dolan said. The repacker's job is to put together a uniform box for customers to use that day or within a couple of days after they receive product.

With rising labor costs, retailers want to be able to open a box and stock their shelves directly from the carton, said John Lupul, president of JTL Produce Sales Inc., Stockton, Calif. They don't want to have to worry that grade or color will be inconsistent.

Repackers probably buy most of the tomatoes that are on the market these days, said David Cook, sales manager for Deardorff Family Farms, Oxnard, Calif. He estimated repackers buy 90% of the mature-green tomatoes alone.

"They are a very important part of the business," he said.

Besides tomatoes, they typically repack squash, beans and cucumbers because they are all temperature-compatible, Cook said.

Most produce houses have a tomato department where they repack themselves or they deal with repackers.

Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce, San Diego, has reduced its reliance on repackers by introducing a customer-direct program over the past five years, said Mark Munger, vice president of marketing.

In the past, 97% of the company's tomato business went through repackers.

"Repackers add a lot of value for most shippers by making packs more consistent," Munger said.

A company assumes more risk when it makes the decision to deliver directly to a retailer, Munger said. Repackers reap the benefits of an industry that to a large extent is not willing to take that risk.

Although Andrew & Williamson now delivers most of its own product direct, repackers still play an important role.

"For the most part, we do a pretty good job of delivering direct, but there are times when we want another set of eyes on (tomatoes) before they go to our customers," Munger said.

Quality issues sometimes arise when the company transitions from one growing area to another, he said, and the expertise of repackers, whom Munger refers to as "partners in profit," can come in handy at those times.

But industry advances may reduce grower-shippers' reliance on repackers in the future, said Brian Bernauer, sales director at Fresh Pac International, Oceanside, Calif.

The proliferation of shade houses in Baja California and improved tomato varieties means that "consistency of size, color and quality is so much better that most of the (product) doesn't need to be repacked anymore," he said.

Repackers were needed because of inconsistent coloring and occasional scarring that resulted from the variables involved with growing a crop outdoors, he said. Shade houses help a grower produce tomatoes that are much improved.

"I'm not saying (grower-shippers) don't need and use repackers," Bernauer said, "but their whole role may change and shift a little bit."

Before Andrew & Williamson started doing most of its own repacking, salesmen had no idea where the company's product would end up, Munger said. Now, they can tell which customer will receive which box, but the change did not come without challenges.

Repackers can deliver the color a buyer wants seven days a week.

"Our challenge was to meet repackers' standards," Munger said, and that was no easy task.

"It means you've got to go all the way back to the field and redesign your entire program to make sure you've got a quality focus and that you understand your product is ripening after it leaves your facility," he said.

Most repackers are excellent operators, Munger said.

"They know the product and their customer base," he said.

When looking for a repacker, Dolan said, a grower-shipper should develop a relationship with firms that buy on a consistent basis and pay in a timely manner.

TK: How will timeworn strategic and intelligent decisions by repackers to maximize their utility to customers be altered by new food safety/traceability concerns? That's a big question as Congress, FDA and industry work through solutions to make the current outbreak the last of its kind. In any case, accurate record keeping will be much important to all links in the tomato supply chain.

National Retail Report - June 13

A big increase in ad activity for tomatoes on the the vine in this week's report, and the USDA said the overall tomato category was "surprisingly" active. From the USDA National Retail Report from June 13:

Barbecue Items for Father’s Day
This week’s ads were focused largely on the upcoming Father’s Day holiday with special sales on barbecue items, drinks, snacks, and anything else “Dad” might like. Retailers also continued to feature a variety of general merchandise as part of summertime themes as well as many dairy products in honor of National Dairy Month. Although overall fresh produce ad activity declined over 17% and fruit ads were down more than 32%, vegetable ads were up almost 6%. This increase is due mainly to the large increases in ad activity on bell peppers and tomatoes on the vine. Both green and red peppers sold per pound and each combined accounted for 13% of vegetable ad activity. Tomatoes were a surprisingly popular item as well, despite the recent salmonella outbreak. The top 5 items this week were centered on seasonal produce, especially fruits. They included: peaches, corn, strawberries, grapes, and sweet onions. Berries were featured quite heavily yet again this week. Blueberries were beginning to be advertised most often in pints as opposed to the 4.4 oz package. This data is reflected in our seasonal category below along with blackberries and raspberries.

Fruits as Percentage of Total Fruit Ads - June 13, 2008
Pineapple 5%
Plums 3%
Lemons 0%
Bananas 0%
Blueberries 1%
Bananas, organic 0%
Avocadoes, hass 6%
Apples, red delicious 1%
Watermelon, seedless 7%
Watermelon, mini 3%
Strawberries, organic 5%
Strawberries 12%
Cantaloupe 9%
Cherries 7%
Honeydew 1%
Limes 2%
Grapefruit, red 1%
Grapes, green/red 11%
Mangoes 3%
Nectarines 8%
Pears, bartlett 0%
Oranges, navel 0%
Peaches 16%


Vegetables as Percentage of Total Vegetable Ads - June 13, 2008
Broccoli, organic 0%
Broccoli 1%
Beans, round green 2%
Tomatoes on the vine 10%
Tomatoes, organic 0%
Tomatoes 3%
Cabbage 1%
Carrots, baby organic 3%
Carrots, baby 6%
Asparagus 2%
Tomatoes, grape organic 2%
Tomatoes, grape 6%
Celery 0%
Corn 12%
Cucumbers 3%
Lettuce, iceberg 5%
Lettuce, romaine 1%
Mushrooms, white 7%
Onions, yellow 2%
Sweet Potatoes 1%
Squash, zucchini 5%
Potatoes, russet 3%
Peppers, bell red 8%
Peppers, bell green 5%
Onions, sweet 10%

Salmonella headline roundup - June 13

I hope you enjoyed the guest blog post from a tomato industry player this morning (Groundhog Day in June) I will let our guest blogger introduce himself at a later time. The above map, of course, is the latest map from the CDC on the states reporting illnesses related to the salmonella Saintpaul. From the CDC from their June 12 update:

Since April, 228 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 23 states: Arizona (19 persons), California (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Idaho (3), Illinois (29), Indiana (7), Kansas (5), Michigan (2), Missouri (2), New Mexico (55), New York (1), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Tennessee (3), Texas (68), Utah (2), Virginia (9), Vermont (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. Among the 161 persons with information available , illnesses began between April 10 and June 1, 2008. Patients range in age from 1 to 88 years; 47% are female. At least 25 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.


Not associated with the outbreak - FDA June 11


Web headlines:

Burger King puts tomatoes back on the menu

Produce industry directs outreach in consumer scare

Tomatoes taken off menus

FDA hit for slow progress in improving food safety

Arkansas tomato growers get boost from Mexico's woes

National Retail Report - May 30

Local produce begins to make waves, says the May 30 National Retail Report from USDA. I'll update the promotion trends charts at the bottom of the blog a little later. From the summary:


Ads Centered on Local Summer Produce
With Memorial Day weekend marking the “official” beginning of summer, retailers have settled into promoting fresh summer produce that is locally grown when available. There were ads for such items as, Arizona red potatoes, Texas cabbage, Michigan asparagus, and southern grown peaches. Other advertised specials included “10 for $10” promotions for a wide variety of produce items including, mangoes, navel oranges, sweet onions, zucchini, peppers, and beans. Overall, there was little change in fresh produce ad activity compared to last week. However, fruits were up 13% and vegetables down 10%. The top five featured items were cherries, peaches, sweet onions, grapes and cantaloupes. The most notable increases were seen on grapes, broccoli, romaine lettuce, and zucchini. There was a significant decrease in ads for corn, red peppers, and seedless watermelon. Berries continue to be advertised heavily this week. New crop grapes from Mexico and Southern California were prominently featured in ads. Items appearing in ads that are not reported here include, apricots, broccoli crowns, greenhouse grown cucumbers, and yellow squash.

Comice pears - earlier than usual

From a news release from Oregon State University:

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – Consumers could be able to bite into fresh, sweet Comice and Bosc pears earlier than usual if pear handlers implement new ripening techniques tested by a researcher at Oregon State University.
Horticulturalist David Sugar has found that by briefly storing Comice pears at cool temperatures and applying ethylene gas to them, they could land in supermarkets by early September instead of the usual early October. With an even simpler version of that ripening treatment, Bosc pears could also be in shoppers' carts in early September instead of two weeks later, Sugar added.

"For consumers, under ideal conditions, this means that at their Labor Day picnics, they could be eating fruit salads made with flavorful Bosc and juicy, buttery Comice pears," said Sugar, who conducted the research in the orchard and lab at OSU's Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point.
“For producers, this would extend their marketing season and hopefully allow them to bring in more revenue,” he added.
Sugar said he focused on Comice and Bosc varieties because they make up the majority of the pears grown in southern Oregon's Rogue Valley. The valley is home to retailer Harry & David, which has built its business on selling gift baskets of mouthwatering, crème de la crème Comice pears marketed under the name Royal Riviera.
Pears, which are Oregon's state fruit, are finicky when it comes to ripening. They can get gritty when they ripen on the tree, so the custom has been to pick them when they're mature, then coax them into ripening through chilling and, in the case of Anjou pears, exposure to ethylene gas. With Comice pears, the traditional approach has been to pick them once they reach a specified firmness that tells the grower that the pears are mature. Then they're stored for at least 30 days at 31 degrees, and no ethylene gas is used.
Bosc pears, characterized by brown skin and firmer flesh, also are stored at 31 degrees, but only for roughly 15 days. They are not exposed to ethylene gas either. During this period both varieties develop the capacity to internally make ethylene gas, the hormone that fruits and vegetables produce to stimulate their own ripening. Pears don't produce it unless they're chilled after harvest or exposed to an external source of ethylene. Once they've developed the capacity to produce their own ethylene, Comice and Bosc pears need five to seven days at room temperature to fully ripen.
After two years of experiments, Sugar has developed new procedures to accelerate the ripening process with the help of ethylene gas. In his tests, he picked Comice pears after they reached the accepted firmness on the tree and put them in a room with ethylene gas for two days. Next, he stored them at 50 degrees and found that they needed only two days at that temperature to develop the capacity to ripen. They still needed the customary five to seven days at room temperature after that to actually ripen.
The bottom line: Comice pears don't need to be held in storage for a month before being shipped to grocery stores; only four days.
Sugar tested several other temperatures and periods of exposure to ethylene gas to create different ripening scenarios for Comice pears. None accelerated the ripening process as fast. For example, when the pears were exposed to one day of ethylene gas, then stored at 31 degrees, they needed 17 days at that temperature to develop the capacity to ripen.
Bosc pears behaved differently. He found that they didn't need to be placed in cold storage; they only needed to be exposed to ethylene gas for one day to develop the capacity to ripen.
In addition to studying how to get pears to market sooner, Sugar has been looking at how to keep Comice pears on the market longer. He tested a clear, plastic bag called LifeSpan that extends the storage life of pears by allowing them to absorb the oxygen and increase the carbon dioxide around them. Developed by an Australian company, the bags can add one to two weeks to the life of Comice pears while still maintaining high quality, Sugar said.
The bags are a low-cost option for packing houses, which line shipping boxes with them and then seal the bags. Traditionally, some packing houses have built airtight, controlled-atmosphere rooms and purchased machinery to generate a low-oxygen atmosphere to store pears. "But this bag has been widely adopted for a poor man's controlled atmosphere because you don't have to have an infrastructure, just a bag," Sugar said.
By using the bags and Sugar's new postharvest ripening method, Comice pears grown in the Northern Hemisphere could be on the market for up to six months instead of four to five months, he said. If packing houses in the Southern Hemisphere do the same, Comice pears would be available all year, he said, instead of being unavailable from February to early March and August to late September.

National Retail Report - May 23

I noted in the KC Star this morning some coverage about the price inflation compared with last year for the backyard barbecue. Still, it's Memorial Day....From the USDA's National Retail Report from May 23

Ads Centered on Memorial Day Celebrations
Despite unseasonably cool temperatures in many areas of the country, retailers focused ads heavily on the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. Fresh meats, fish, and poultry were most often highlighted on front page space in keeping with the holiday’s typical celebrations of cook-outs and picnics. In addition to center-of-the-plate items, fresh produce was featured often as many domestic fruits and vegetables became more available. Overall, fresh produce ad activity was up 14% compared to last week with fruits up 21% and vegetables up roughly 8%. The top 5 featured items were corn, cherries, seedless watermelon, sweet onions, and strawberries. The most notable increases were seen on corn, cherries, nectarines, peaches, and watermelons. Berries were advertised heavily this week. In addition to blueberries and strawberries reported here, raspberries and blackberries were widely promoted. Despite a decrease in price ad activity on strawberries in 1 lb containers, there were an abundance of “buy-one-get-one-free” ads. Both strawberries and blueberries were also featured in larger pack sizes – 2lb and 4lb containers of strawberries and pints of blueberries.

Nutrition v. Taste/convenience

Here is the exchange that was the inspiration for my Fresh Talk poll this week. First, the column by Dan Galbraith of The Packer on the failed promise of "marketing nutrition."

From Dan in the April 14 issue of The Packer:

Produce marketers should take new angle
Dan Galbraith, Sections Editor
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- There's a famous "Seinfeld" episode that repeats the line, "Not that there's anything wrong with that," and that buzz phrase pops into my mind as I look back at the April 3-5 Produce Marketing Association's Consumer Trends '08: A Produce Solutions Conference in Newport Beach, Calif.
Conference attendees already knew the product they're selling is fresh and healthful, yet not as popular or as profitable as many food alternatives proven to be detrimental to health.
Fresh produce is healthy and that healthfulness is promotable -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- but are produce industry marketing agents missing the point?
Possibly, if you listened to some of the conference speakers closely enough.
Harry Balzer, vice president of the NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., for instance, spoke on "Eating Patterns in America: The Scoop on Who's Really Eating What -- Regardless of What They Say."
That's "scoop" -- as in ice cream -- one of many poor-nutrition foods Americans like to eat more than they like to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
Perhaps the title of the speech should have been changed to "… Who's Really Eating What -- And Why" because Balzer stressed, among other things, that Americans said "eating light" was the main reason they ate a particular meal only 2% of the time.
That's right -- only 2 Americans in 100 said healthfulness was the major motivating factor behind a given meal.
And that should have been quite an eye-opener.
What's worse, when asked what they ate when they sought out a "light meal," salads finished no higher than the middle of the Top 10 pack. And guess what: burgers topped the list.
It's important to note that Balzer's data is based on what Americans actually ate, not what they reported they ate.
Balzer also talked about how factors such as convenience and perceived value are most vital to Americans when they make their food choices.
Speaker Jim Perkins, president of ULATAM Retail Solutions, Chicago, talked about the importance of connecting with Hispanic consumers through responding to their culture "in a culturally relevant way regarding produce."
Perkins emphasized the need to make packaging, store displays, advertising and store atmosphere both user-friendly and culturally appealing to Hispanics.
Except during the food safety seminar, I didn't hear speakers equate factors such as healthfulness of the product and safety behind the product as money-makers.
We all know fresh produce ranks among the most healthful and safe types of food in the world. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, for maximizing produce profitability, most conference speakers suggested maximizing taste and convenience messages to consumers.
In the vein of Taco Bell's "Fourth Meal" promotion, perhaps produce industry marketers should take the emphasis off the healthfulness of the products they're pushing and appeal to good ol' American excess, for a change.
After all, the biggest trend in American eating is, that, well, we're eating bigger and getting bigger around our waistlines.
Of course, excess is part of the American dream -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- but can't the fresh produce industry capitalize on this phenomenon instead of being victimized by it?
It sounds absurd, but how about a "Mass Quantities" produce promotion, with the old Saturday Night Live "Coneheads" as spokespeople, devouring entire heads of lettuce or entire bags of carrots?
Check the state-by-state statistics presented at the conference on obesity careening out of control and you should realize Americans are going to overeat, no matter how much nutrition education they get.
Fresh produce has long been food's "good guy" -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- but it's apparent Americans prefer the "bad boy," and Balzer's presentation supports this fact (he concluded, "so health is a secondary factor" in American eating).
Chicken snack wraps, which Balzer dubbed "the hottest thing right now," in foodservice, could wind up being a positive development because the wraps include fresh produce -- lettuce and sometimes tomatoes.
If consumers could get into the habit of eating snack wraps now offered at places like McDonald's and KFC without any dressing, it could be a positive development for the fresh produce industry.
Call me an anti-traditionalist, or call me crazy, if you will, but the fresh produce industry's prior attempts to tout the nutrition and the relative low cost of their products hasn't put fruits and vegetables at the top of any shopping list I've seen.
Especially now, when high input costs necessitated by food safety efforts and skyrocketing energy bills have taken away some of the produce industry's price advantage, now is the time to promote produce taste any way possible.
In the real world -- and in Harry Balzer's statistical world -- taste is the only true factor, other than convenience, that will drive what Americans eat through 2020 and beyond. For fresh produce companies to survive in this world, they have to become aware of this food-trend knowledge, embrace it and adapt their marketing efforts to play to it.
That's called making money off American excess, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Email dgalbraith@thepacker.com


---------------------------------

TK: The retort to Dan's comment comes in the May 19 issue of The Packer from John Sauve, managing director of the food and nutrition division at the Swardlick Marketing Group, Portland, Maine. Suave argues that the industry hasn't reaped the advantage of the nutrition/health message but the cause is the industry's execution rather than the message itself.

Produce's health message matters most
John Sauve, Swardlick Marketing Group
I have a bone to pick -- make that a carrot -- with your sections editor, Dan Galbraith, author of the opinion piece "Produce marketers should take new angle."
In Galbraith's April 14 column, he suggests the health message as a driver for produce consumption has failed and therefore a new angle is necessary.
As an experienced marketer in the field of food and nutrition, I believe Galbraith is off-base on this one. I don't agree with his premise or his support points.
Maybe he really wanted to evoke the kind of response I'm expressing -- to find someone who truly believes and can articulate that, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, health matters most.
As the managing director of the food and nutrition division of Swardlick Marketing Group, the agency that developed the science and nutrition-based 5 a Day The Color Way program for the Produce for Better Health Foundation, I have seen the power of a science-backed health story to dramatically move produce sales.
In the late 1990s, our agency discovered, developed and promoted the emerging phytochemical research and antioxidant-based health story behind the enormous success of the blueberry business.
A health-based marketing message was -- and continues to be -- the driving force behind the worldwide demand for blueberries, as well as other individual fruits and vegetables that have chosen to focus on health as their principle marketing message.
In our view, the health message has not failed the produce industry as a driver of consumption for fruits and vegetables; rather, the industry itself has failed to effectively drive and support the right health message into the marketplace.
Most healthful food group
We believe the produce industry, representing the healthiest food group, has yet to really embrace, understand and truly market the health benefits of its colorful, nutritionally advantaged products.
Until that happens, we will lose ground to the many other categories in the marketplace - think dairy, cereal, soy, beverages and supplements - that have grabbed "health" and benefited from it. These categories put money behind health in a big way: at point of sale, in advertising, in packaging.
The same cannot be said of the produce industry. While we are off talking about other things, the other food groups will take away our inherent health advantage. That's just good competitive strategy on their part. We talk a good health game -- amongst ourselves -- but our actual playing is way short of the mark.
Think about it: when was the last time you saw the words "health" or "wellness" prominently displayed in the produce section of the supermarket? You are more likely to find those words in the pharmacy section.
Take a walk through your produce department. What health-related messages hit you between the eyes -- the ones that make you immediately call up the latent health images you have of fruits and veggies?
When was the last time the industry had a national campaign running to promote the health benefits of fruits and vegetables? When was the last time you saw an ad for healthy fruits and vegetables on TV?
Milk, cereal (look at the front of the Cheerios box), beverages, soy, even pharmacy, are grabbing the health messages being conveyed to Americans, while fruits and veggies talk about freshness and quality and admittedly other good things - but not health.
It's not that we aren't communicating good things. We are. It's that the most important one, the lead health story, is missing or is way down the list.
Product positioning built upon delivering a meaningful, compelling and differentiating consumer benefit is what marketers try to do for their brands.
While Galbraith calls upon some broad research to support his points on taste and convenience -- certainly important and necessary barriers and solutions to address -- theses are not the primary positioning points that will win the good vs. not-so-good food fight or the wellness challenge.
Collectively, we can and must differentiate and market fruits and vegetables first and foremost on the health dimension -- our core product positioning -- something that comes naturally to our nutritionally advantaged product portfolio.
Our beautiful color array alone is a competitive advantage for fruits and vegetables. All other attributes and benefits are support points, helping us meet the needs of the marketplace.
The irony is, colorful fruits and vegetables are the true health heroes in the supermarket. Health rightfully belongs to produce, yet we are letting these other categories win the "health and wellness" mantle.
Our biggest marketplace voice, the Produce for Better Health Foundation, a wonderful organization with dedicated people, is too underfunded to effectively compete and somewhat restricted in its health messaging strategies by governmental guidelines.
We simply have no outlets consistently and effectively doing the health-focused marketing job for the whole industry.
We hope the collective industry will wake up and get on the health track, because health really does matter most.
John Sauve is managing director of the food and nutrition division at the Swardlick Marketing Group, Portland, Maine.


TK: The fresh produce industry certainly does not need to run away from the nutrition/health message. But does not everyone understand that fruits and vegetables are "good for you"? More of the emphasis, I think, needs to be focused on ways to make fruits and vegetables more accessible, more convenient and easy. Let the nutrition message be a throw in or supplementary message, but let the primary driver should be the convenience and ease of fresh produce. Taste can be promoted when it is a bona fide change from consumer expectations - such as a new variety - but don't over promise and under deliver on the taste message.