March 2020 - 6

EDITOR'S LETTER
Know your customer
A pair of Michigan State University
researchers recently identified some key
emerging trends that will likely shape the
food market and have implications for
farmers, including specialty crop growers.
The study was prepared by Soji Adelaja,
John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor
in Land Policy and Dave D. Weatherspoon,
professor, Department of Agricultural, Food
and Resource Economics.
They indicated the first two rules of marketing
are " The Consumer is King " and " Consumers are
always evolving. "
" These adages are truer today than ever, " the
researchers wrote. " The last few decades brought
Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
some of the most drastic changes in consumer demographics, preferences and
product needs. Although farmers do not always sell directly to consumers, they
should be aware of the major trends, which are likely to reshape the entire food
supply chain. "
The key food market trends, according to the authors, include:
* " The Amazon effect. The term refers to the recent rapid increase in
e-commerce and shift to online shopping. With its recent acquisition of Whole
Foods, consumption patterns are likely to change even more drastically.
Farmers and their marketing organizations need to understand the Amazon
effect, the competitiveness of their current supply chain and its implications
for what food consumers want and how they want it.
* " Browning of America. By 2050, 53.9% of the population will be Hispanic,
African American or Asian American, 18% more ethnically diverse than
2010. Innovation in the food industry has reflected global taste profiles and
production methods that U.S. farmers will be required to understand.
* " Sustainable food supply chains. Consumers are expressing strong interest in
sustainability. They increasingly want to know that the food they consume
is produced in sustainable ways. Farmers can take advantage of these trends
by aligning their practices to reduce their environmental foot-prints and
targeting their products toward companies wishing to meet the consumer's
demand for sustainable products.
* " Traceability (blockchain). Consumers are demanding more information
on who, where and how their food is produced. Blockchain technology is
expected to be the technology that coordinates the entire supply chain while
improving transparency, streamlining recalls and reducing waste. Farmers
need to follow this technology since their information will be a critical block.
* " Generational demand. Understanding the different preferences of the six
major generations is what most food firms are tracking closely. Changes in the
supply chain inputs are increasingly a result of the analysis and dissection of
generational and other demographic subgroups.
* " Farmer-to-market apps. Few farmers have adopted technologies to better
connect them to the market and bypass traditional marketing channels. The
study authors see huge opportunities for farmers, especially in metropolitan
areas, to develop new apps to connect directly to consumers and provide
home delivery services.
* " Urban farming. Urban farming has several advantages: closeness to a high
concentration of consumers, reduced logistics costs and direct consumer
marketing opportunities. Hydroponic technology now allows urban farmers
to produce targeted vegetables in clean and controlled environments for
supply to grocery stores, homes and institutions. Farmers' experience in
agriculture may give them an advantage over others interested in urban
farming.
* " Non-traditional channels. Historically, a firm focused mainly on one level in
the food supply chain. As retailers search for competitive approaches, they
are operating multi retail formats under one company. This blurring of lines
between manufacturing and retailing along with retailing formats presents
problems for farmers to understand the landscape largely because of the
speed that this phenomenon is occurring all at the same time.
* " New and constantly changing products. A traditional supermarket has
approximately 45,000 unique products for sale. On average, over 22,000 new
food and beverage products are introduced annually with approximately
14,000 of them being launched in the U.S. These ever changing market
opportunities are unstable, some of which only last for weeks, and are
difficult for farmers to strategically plan for or around. Farmers need to be
directly connected to the end consumer to maximize and to prolong these
market opportunities. "
Vegetable
Growers
News.com
WATCH. READ. SHARE
VEGETABLEGROWERSNEWS.COM
AcMoody Farms named Red Gold Master
Grower, Tomato Grower of the Year
Red Gold Inc., of Elwood, Indiana,
presented Brian and Vern AcMoody of
Union City, Michigan, a plaque naming
them the winner of the E.A. Reichart
Quality Achievement Award to honor
them as the Tomato Grower of the Year.
New WSU honeybee research facility plans
grand opening
Washington State University celebrated
the grand opening of its new Honey
Bee & Pollinator Research, Extension,
and Education Facility on March 6 with a
ribbon cutting and tours of the facility.
New Mexico Chile pepper heads to space
The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration will be growing the New
Mexico Chile in the International Space
Station in 2020 as part of the effort to
develop crops to support deep space
exploration.
Study eyes viability of indoor farming to
grow leafy greens
A multi-university team of
horticulturists, engineers and
agricultural economists led by Michigan
State University has received a fouryear,
$2.7 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to study
indoor production of leafy greens.
WANT TO HEAR MORE FROM VGN?
Sign up to receive our monthly e-newsletter, eVGN, featuring exclusive
articles, videos and photos not seen in the pages of VGN magazine.
Visit www.vegetablegrowersnews.com to sign up today.
facebook.com/
VegGrowersNews
twitter.com/
VGN_News
THEY SAID IT
" Moisture is the driver for all of the pepper
diseases. "
- SALLY MILLER, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
P. 14
4 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
youtube.com/
TheVGNtv
linkedin.com/
showcase/vegetablegrowers-news
http://www.News.com http://www.VEGETABLEGROWERSNEWS.COM http://www.vegetablegrowersnews.com http://www.facebook.com/ http://www.twitter.com/ http://www.youtube.com/ http://www.linkedin.com/ http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2020
