One temptation in the fresh produce world is to focus so much on the daily business that there’s no time for forecasting and looking at the big picture.
Four speakers looked at five global cultural shifts and projected their influence on the produce industry’s goal of increasing consumption, during the Produce Marketing Association’s BB #:153708 Sept. 30 town hall webinar.
Globalization
Better trade means greater variety, but Elizabeth Nardi, CEO of Organically Grown Company, BB #:149476 said globalization also causes many consumers to focus more locally.
“We’re seeing more focus on local, knowing the farmers,” she said, noting that some of the growers she knows reported having their best weeks during the pandemic at farmers markets because consumer demand was so high.
Consultant Sharon Foo said as Generation Z grows in influence, their focus on matching values to purchases will encourage growers to be more transparent, no matter where they are.
Population Diversification
As people embrace their differences, they want greater varieties of food choices.
“Meals are a way to build community, especially during COVID,” said Nardi. “We’re seeing more emphasis on plant based food.”
Precision Technology
Growers continue to adapt away from the world where they produced what they could and then searched for a market.
Marc Oshima, co-founder and CMO for AeroFarms, said his company can change varieties and growing techniques to suit a customer or chef’s flavor preferences.
Growing indoors and trading globally allows food companies to bypass seasonality, he said, which “allows for people to choose food as a lifestyle.”
Climate Adaptation
CMO Lauren Scott said produce companies need to be careful with this topic because it often gets political, and companies don’t want to become the target of some group’s agenda.
Nardi said agriculture is an issue that can find common ground from all political sides, and companies should encourage bipartisan cooperation.
Accelerated Urbanization
Scott said as more people move to cities, they become further removed from farms, where their food comes from, which demands more education.
Nardi said one advantage of more urbanization is smaller footprint retail stores, which can allow those retailers to work more easily with smaller, local growers.
Foo said it’s possible the pandemic of 2020 may slow the trend for people to live in cities, which are more crowded, something people have avoided due to the virus.
