Organic Fruit Production in PA

I have been slacking as of late when it comes to updating this blog. Considering that a colleague and I have been asked to give a presentation at the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention for producers on the subject using social networking tools such as blogs for marketing I figured it was time for a post. Yesterday I attended a meeting of a task force which is dedicated to researching organic apple production in Pennsylvania. A great deal of progress has been made by this group in determining the best methods to grow fruit organically in Pennsylvania. It is much harder to grow organically in the east coast compared to out west in Washington due to higher humidity levels resulting in greater disease pressure.

However, even with all of the progress that has been made on the organic production side, marketing still remains the million dollar question. The unpredictable twists and turns of consumer demand become extremely difficult for apple growers who may decide to plant a certain variety to grow organically based on today’s market research only to see demand swing a different way in a few years when it’s time to harvest that variety. However, the organic apple market has shown a consistent upward trend in the last 10 years. Even in the midst of a recession during the last year, sales of organic fruit and the price premium it entails continued to rise. And, even though organic only makes up 3-5 % of apple sales nationally, that is still a big chunk of the population, especially when considering 1/3 of the U.S. population resides on the east coast. I don’t know how big organic apple production will become in Adams County or the east coast in general, but, currently we only have one organic apple grower in the county so it seems like there is room for more before the niche is completely filled. Please feel free to weigh in if you have any opinions on this issue.

Mental Placement

Anybody who has ever sat through a marketing class has heard of the 4 Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion, and placement. Placement, of course can be thought of as where is your physical product going to be sold or where is or service going to be provided. However, there is a different way of thinking about placement that is especially important for small scale entrepreneurs who compete on quality more so than on price.

Mental placement refers to how you and your business are positioned in the customer’s mind. For instance, if you pride yourself on being able to answer any production question and value the role in education in sales you will be viewed by your customers as the place to go for whatever it is you produce as well as a free education. There are other strategies to achieve a positive mental placement in the eyes of consumers but it all comes down to creating a mix of quality products and exceptional customer service. The most important question to ask yourself is: how will customers remember you and your products?

Apple Exclusivity

Many people have heard of “club” or “managed” varieties of apples. These are varieties that are produced and marketed in controlled quantities exclusively by growers and marketers who are part of the “club”. For example, Jazz, Pacific Rose, SweeTango, and Kiku Fuji are all managed varieties. There has been a lot of controversy in recent years over this topic. Many growers think that it is unfair for a specific cultivar to be limited to an exclusive club. The issue has also led to some confusion in the industry. For example, in some cases, like with the Kiku Fuji, only the name is trademarked with exclusive marketing rights. Therefore, anybody could grow the variety but only people with the marketing rights can sell it as Kiku Fuji.

Today, I read about a different kind of exclusivity. A group called New York Apple Growers; LLC has formed and will commercialize apple varieties developed by Cornell University. Under the plan, new varieties, whose development is supported by New York tax payers, will be exclusively grown/marketed by New York producers. Will we eventually have state specific varieties for other apple growing states like Pennsylvania, Washington, and Michigan? Is this a good thing for growers and/or consumers? Only time will tell.

Honeycrisp Mania!

The days of Red Delicious apples dominating the grocery stores may soon be over. Consumers are slowly but surely becoming more aware of newer varieties on the market, such as Honeycrisp, pictured on the left. Honeycrisp is an early season variety that has been getting more shelf space on retailer shelves recently and has almost a cult-like following at farmers’ markets. For Example, at a farmers’ market that I worked at last Saturday 27 crates of Honeycrisp apples were sold; the next highest total for any other single variety was 3. For anybody who has compared a Red Delicious to a Honeycrisp, let’s face it, the Red Delicious doesn’t even compare. Many people blame the fact that the Red Delicious’ genes were tampered with in order to ensure a perfect red color for its lack of flavor compared to other varieties. Some people are concerned that the Honeycrisp and other varieties like Gala or Pink Lady could face the same fate unless measures are taken to prevent breeding for high color strains at the compromise of flavor.

As it stands right now, the prices for Honeycrisp apples are substantially higher than Red Delicious prices. This is a result of the supply and demand factors as well as higher production costs for Honeycrisp; however, prices could eventually level off as more acres are planted. The bottom line is that consumers are becoming more aware of the wide array of variety choices that they now have and are demanding apples with unique and distinct taste profiles.

Exploring Your Small Farm Dream

If you have thought seriously about turning a profit off of a few acres or already have a small agricultural operation and would like to change strategies then Exploring Your Small Farm Dream can help. This course, offered by several Penn State Cooperative Extension Offices in the Southeast Region, is designed to help guide beginning farmers through the initial exploratory decision making process and bridge the gap between ideas and action. Whether your vision includes making goat cheese, selling cut flowers, or growing rare tomato varieties, this course will give you the tools to start making that dream come true.

Participants will discuss current opportunities in small-scale agriculture, explore objectives, assess personal and financial resources, conduct preliminary market research, and develop an action plan for pursuing their interests in food and farming. This interactive course will include creative exercises, research, and class discussions that will allow you to accurately assess your skills and resources. Interviews with local agricultural business owners will also be included to give you firsthand knowledge on what to expect when starting your business. For information about course availability in your area, please refer to the course website: www.pasmallfarmdream.info

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush

Through my experience moonlighting as a Farmers' Market employee the last couple Saturdays I have learned a great deal about marketing. This past Saturday a situation came up that made me realize that split second decision making is just as crucial to a small family-owned orchard business as it is to any Fortune 500 company. It was around 10:00 a.m., about halfway through the market day already, and peaches had been flying through the check out table all morning when we received an interesting question from a customer. The customer wanted to purchase 5 half bushel boxes of peaches; roughly 100 pounds worth.

Now, usually, we may see few customers throughout the day who buy one or two half bushel boxes at a reduced wholesale price, but 5 boxes was an unprecedented number. I went to the woman in charge and asked if it could be done. I suggested that maybe we could compromise and sell them 3 boxes instead of 5. I was concerned that if we let that many go we might run out of peaches well before the market closed and risk disappointing several of our regular retail customers. But the boss thought that it was worth the risk, she sold 5 boxes to the couple at wholesale price and it ended up working out perfectly. We sold the last peach a few minutes before the market closed. Now, maybe on a different day her decision could have backfired on her; that’s not my point. My point is that it’s easy for us to forget that farms and other small businesses face a high level of risk every day. You don’t have to show up to work in a suit and tie everyday to have good business sense and risk management skills.

The Power of Choice

As consumers we all feel empowered by choice. And when it comes to food, options are never a bad thing, at least in my opinion. For a grower involved in retail fruit and vegetable marketing one way to empower the consumer is by doing a pick-your-own operation, through which customers walk around your orchard and are able to pick out what they want. The idea of pick-your-own has been around for many years and some agricultural businesses have been pretty successful with it. However, the liabilities that come with letting people roam around your farm can prove to be too costly for many growers. But, there are many simpler ways that you can empower your customers. One of these easy little techniques was brought to my attention this past Saturday at the Gettysburg Farmers' Market.

While I was strolling around the market I came across a booth that had many different varieties of cherry tomatoes in several different colors and sizes. As I was trying to decide what variety to buy, the woman behind the counter said “here, just make up your own pint”. So, I grabbed the empty pint and got to work choosing my tomatoes. Something as simple as that actually made my purchasing experience much more fun. I walked away a satisfied customer with the exact combination of tomatoes that I wanted; a few smaller ones, a few oranges ones, a few white ones, etc. Though doing something like this may seem like common sense to many of you; don’t underestimate the power of choice when it comes to any aspect of marketing. Take some time to think about whether there is an item at your market that you could make more customizable for your customers.


Photo courtesy of Farm to Chef Gettysburg