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

A Different Kind of Donut

If you have visited your local farmers' market in search of peaches recently, you may have been a little perplexed by signs that read “fresh, locally grown donuts”. But if you scroll down your line of sight a little bit you will see that these “Donuts” are not of the Krispy Kreme variety but instead they are extraordinarily shaped peaches. Some people may also refer to them as “Saturn” peaches as this is the name of one of the most popular donut shaped varieties. Though flat peaches were originally cultivated in Asia and brought to Europe and the U.S. around 200 years ago, they fell out of favor for quite some time until the late 1990s when they began to make a comeback as a widely cultivated variety.

Just because the shape may strike you as somewhat odd don’t be afraid to try one because they are quite tasty. Donut peaches have a white flesh and are on the lower acidity side of the spectrum making them very sweet. Currently, in Adams County, Hollabaugh Bros. Fruit Farm and Market has plenty of Donut peaches in stock.

Millions of Peaches

Anybody who was an adolescent or teenager in the mid 90s probably remembers the popular song, “Peaches”, by a band called The Presidents of the United States of America. Now, these men were neither presidents nor farmers, but like many people, they loved peaches hence the repeated lyric “millions of peaches, peaches for me”.

While none of us could actually eat millions of peaches, sometimes it seems like there are millions of different varieties to choose from. Most people think that a peach is a peach and, in the image that they conjure up in their head, the flesh is yellow. However, there are over 2,000 different varieties of peaches separated into 2 main classes: yellow fleshed and white fleshed. Yellow peaches are more acidic and as a result tend to be a bit more tart, especially when firm. White peaches are naturally less tart and less acidic, as a result, they can be eaten when still a bit firm. Within these 2 categories the seasonality and specific flavors can vary greatly. Although they were both excellent, the white peach that I got from Hollabaugh Brothers had a softer skin and was less acidic than the one that I got from Peters Orchard earlier this week which was a bit firmer. And, each week a new variety is ripe, when I asked which varieties of white peaches they had the young lady at Peters Orchard said “last week it was Spring Snow, this week its Sugar May”.

So, take time to try a new variety each week, because before you know it, peach season will be over.

For where to find local peaches check out these sites:

www.acfarmersmarkets.org

agmap.psu.edu

Chefs Experience Adams County Agriculture

If you are really into the Bravo Network’s Top Chef, or a history buff when it comes to American Presidents, you may have been a little star struck last Wednesday at the Gettysburg College Campus. The Pennsylvania Preferred program, which sponsored all of the Gettysburg Festival’s culinary events, brought in chef/restaurateur Richard Blais to sit on a discussion panel at the Country Culinary Fair which focused on the growing interest in eating locally. Blais gained notoriety when he placed 2nd in season 4 of Top Chef. Other panelists included Walter Scheib: former Executive White House Chef, Andrew Little: local chef from Sheppard Mansion Farms in Hanover, PA, JoAnna Gresham: Director of the PA Preferred Program, and Kathy Glahn: local farmer/famrers’ market organizer who pulled the Country Culinary Fair together.

The panel discussion topics ranged from unique foods like asparagus ice cream to the basic concepts of supply and demand economics. Chef Walter Scheib summed up the discussion: “About 30 years ago chefs around the United States rediscovered a concept that had fallen out of favor and that concept was that great food and great dining wasn’t about complicated culinary techniques but great food and great flavors were about ripe, seasonal, local and delicious product”

For interesting interviews with the chefs check out my podcast: http://adams.extension.psu.edu/Podcasts/FreshfromtheFarm/FreshFarms.xml

For recipes from Walter Scheib visit: http://www.theamericanchef.com/index.asp

Fresh inspirations from Andrew Little: http://www.chefandrewlittle.blogspot.com/

Cherries have arrived!

I like food that takes a little bit of work to eat. Maybe that’s why I always had a bag of sunflower seeds in my back pocket when I played little league baseball. Diligently cracking each shell then eating the seed was its own little sense of accomplishment. Now, carefully eating the flesh of a sweet cherry and spitting out the pit gives me a similar sense of satisfaction. Working around the pit gives you an extra few seconds to truly savor the flavor of each cherry. I guess that's why I was so excited at the end of last week when I realized sweet cherry season had arrived.

On top of their excellent flavor, the health benefits of sweet cherries have been given a lot of attention in the news over the past few years. Most of the news centers on the antioxidant properties that are present in all cherries, specifically natural chemicals called anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant, which give cherries their rich red hue. Antioxidants, which neutralize free radicals in the blood and help to prevent damage to cells are believed to protect against cancers of the digestive tract. They also protect against heart disease, act as an anti-inflammatory, and promote good sleep.

Here in Adams County, PA, Boyer Nurseries and Orchards are well known for their several varieties of delicious sweet cherries. Their fresh fruit season has just begun as they are now offering pick-your-own cherries as well as blueberries. Check out their website for more information. http://www.boyernurseries.com/market.htm

Putting The Desire For Local Foods Into Action Can Be Challenging But Rewarding

As I stared at the dichotomy that was my lunch today I could not help but shake my head in amusement. On one plate I had some delicious looking fresh Romaine Lettuce picked a few days ago from Mcleaf Orchards; no more than 10 miles down the road. On the other plate I had a frozen Lean Cuisine sandwich the ingredients of which came from who knows when or where. The lettuce was just about as minimally processed as food comes and the sandwich was processed to the max. The sandwich tasted good, but the salad I made with the fresh romaine tasted even better. Maybe it was because of the crisp, fresh nature of the leaves or maybe it was due to the fact that I know Corey McLeaf and have visited his farm.


The fact is, more and more people are choosing to eat locally grown foods, whether it’s a matter of taste, desire for a better sense of community, or concern for the environment. However, after attending a conference last month that centered on enhancing local and regional food systems, I can assure you that even those at the center of the “local foods movement” don’t eat 100% local 100% of the time. But, some have tried to eat exclusively local foods for a prolonged stretch of time such as Bill McKibben’s attempt that he describes in his book “Deep Economy”. However, it is a goal that is extremely difficult for the average person to achieve.

Old habits are hard to break and, for most of us, the way the current national and global food system works is all we have ever known. We were all brought up in a world where almost any type of food could be obtained any time of the year at one convenient location: the local supermarket. The question of how much of your daily food intake can or should be sourced from local producers is anybody’s guess and it depends heavily on geographic factors. But, you shouldn't feel guilty or that you can’t be part of the movement towards local if you choose to pair that local asparagus with fish that you bought at the supermarket. The point is that every little bit helps.

Diverse Offerings Becoming More Prominent at Local Farmers' Markets

Adams County Farmers' Markets are beginning to gain momentum and when most people think of farmers markets they think of bounties of fruits and veggies. Fresh strawberries are peaking and in the coming weeks salad greens and other berries will be harvested. But, these days local farmers’ market vendors are also looking to fill the center of the consumer’s plate with high quality meats.

Fridays Farm Fresh Market at The Outlet Shoppes in Gettysburg has two vendors that offer premium beef and pork products at the same stand. Sheppard Mansion Farms, located on the border of Adams and York County, sells 9 standard cuts of hormone-free, grass-fed, Highland Beef along with 2 or 3 weekly specials. Highland Cattle produce a lean cut of beef due to a thick hide and less subcutaneous fat.

Rettland Farm, located in Gettysburg, specializes in Berkshire pork, a heritage breed that is known for its gourmet taste and texture qualities. The pork products that they are selling at the market include loin, rib chops, bacon, various sausages, and ground pork. On top of that, they also have whole, pastured broiler chickens and pastured veal cuts while current supplies last.

Welcome to "Fresh From the Farm Market Report"

My intention for this blog is to address issues and educate consumers concerning the marketing of local agricultural products.