Fruitgrowers told they need to meet market

The Atkins diet is good news for beef farmers - but not so great for fruit producers.

It's a crazy world when a diet fad can push sales of pork scratchings up 20 per cent, says food marketing expert Professor David Hughes.

Scratchings are small, cooked portions of pork skin served in British pubs and bars as a snack food, and sold in the United States as pork rinds.

Since the advent of the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet fad - heavy on meat and fat, light on carbohydrates and sugars - sales of scratchings had risen sharply but sales of orange juice had suffered.

"The world is crazy," Dr Hughes told more than 100 people at the Summerfruit New Zealand conference at Taradale.

Studies had also shown that the health benefits of tomatoes and blueberries were highest when they were cooked or further processed, rather than eaten raw.

Obesity was a growing problem in the developed world, but even though companies were moving to get involved with healthier products, junk food was still popular.

This showed what fruit and vegetable growers around the world were up against.

In the developed world, populations were ageing and households getting smaller, so people were looking for convenience foods.

They also generally had more money to spend on food but often the health attributes of food came behind flavour and convenience.

"For mainstream consumers, the attribute of health will usually be an added benefit or tiebreaker in a purchase decision."

Consumers would buy fruit in other forms, such as prepared snacks, juices and health bars as a "guilt-free indulgence", he said.

To break into the market with whole fresh fruit, growers needed to know who their market was.

"Know who's buying your fruit."

The traditional household of mum, dad and the children was now only 22 per cent of the market.

Producers needed to be able to offer something to all market segments.

"Offer different sizes and shapes and combinations of food. Be quicker on your feet to meet the market."

The commodity fruit market was fragmenting into specialist varieties which was good news for producers. It gave them the opportunity to create differences between varieties and for the varieties to mean something to shoppers.

In Britain, tomato prices varied hugely between the 24 commodity and specialised varieties.

In the New Zealand market growers needed to work out what business they were in.

"Fruit is the affordable treat business - the healthy snack."

The competition was yogurts with fruit corners, fruit juices and snacks - competitors with big marketing budgets.

"With lifestyle changes and demographic trends we deliver the wrong product in the wrong form at the wrong price in the wrong place."

UK consumers did not know how to use fruit, unlike in Europe where a piece of fruit was part of every meal.

"Fruit needs to be in a form where young people can use it."

Now that "home economics" as a subject had been removed from the curriculum in British schools children did not know how food was produced or how to use it, Professor Hughes said.

Growers' competition was every other food, he said. "Don't bother with branding if you can't deliver because you will ruin the brand."

To make their lives and profits better growers needed to have a five-year vision and a strategy to get there.

"You are a food company, not a produce trading company."

Professional development of staff, volume and value growth to underpin their investment, operational excellence and effective performance measurement systems were essential.

Supplier and customer relationship management must be outstanding.

- NZPA