Driving Demand Of New Varieties

First of all, I should tell you who’s picture you’re looking at to the right, since that’s probably where your eyes went first. That’s Frank Giles, the editor of our sister publication, Florida Grower magazine. Frank works out of our Winter Park, FL, office, and he’s holding a box of Honeycrisp that was just shipped to him. Why the need for the picture? I’ll explain below …

In recent years, the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) has clearly expanded its central mission beyond the advancement of new competitive orchard production systems. Marketing now plays a key role in many IFTA events, whether it’s the recent tours of direct marketing operations, or the half-day session at last month’s annual IFTA conference in Visalia, CA, that was devoted to understanding the potential of new varieties and promoting them.

One of the speakers during this session was Steve Lutz of the Perishables Group, an Illinois-based independent consulting firm focused on innovation and creating value for clients in the fresh food industry. Echoing IFTA’s evolving direction, he noted that it’s time for growers to shift their focus from simply growing new varieties to marketing them. He also made two specific points that bear mentioning: First, he said that in the supermarket, vegetables are often a planned purchase (to be used as ingredients or as side dishes), whereas fruit tends to be more of an impulse buy. (A shopper may plan on buying some fruit for a school lunch, but they’re not sure exactly what they will buy until they walk into the store.) Second, he stated that if the fruit industry can’t drive consumer demand before consumers enter the store, they should focus on attracting them once they’re walking the aisles.

While I don’t disagree with Lutz’s points, I also think the industry should not automatically put these types of limits on its potential. Why shouldn’t we strive to create enough excitement for new apples, as well as other fruits, that consumers decide to make a special trip to the grocery store just for them?

I’ve heard our “Tree Fruit” columnist, Jim McFerson, speak often about the importance of breeding new varieties with traits that are appealing to consumers, and using these varieties to help drive demand. I agree with Jim wholeheartedly on this. There’s an element of risk involved whenever you try to change consumer perceptions. But I’d rather try to get them interested in apples and other fruit before they even walk into the store, instead of forcing them to make their decision based solely on the price of apples vs. the price of bananas, especially while those potato chips and candy bars are calling them from around the corner.

A variety like Honeycrisp is a perfect example of this. For years, we’ve heard that Honeycrisp could be the savior of the apple industry, because it has the potential to get consumers talking. I look at the picture above, and I see that it’s working. A few of us here at our headquarters in Northeast Ohio tipped Frank off about Honeycrisp. He managed to track one down at a store in Florida, and instantly became a convert, even setting up his own blog (honeycrispconnection.blogspot.com) raving about them. If we can get more consumers as interested in Honeycrisp as Frank, the industry will be in a much better place. The key is to do so without negatively affecting sales of other varieties or of other fruit. However, if you manage to build enough excitement in advance, the battle’s halfway won.