OUTLOOK, Sask. – Food wholesalers are looking for consistent quality in every shipment, food buyer Mike Fury told a Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers Association conference here Feb. 28.
“Your standards have to be brought to the level of the consumers,” said Fury of the Grocery People, a food wholesaler and retailer owned by Federated Co-operatives Ltd.
He noted shoppers want perfection and a uniform size in produce they buy at the supermarket.
Packaging also has to suit consumer needs. Fury cited one example of a berry grower who packed two-quart containers when the consumer typically buys only one pint at a time.
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Growers must consider what consumers are looking for and fall in line with that or risk losing market and buyers.
“Ask what it’s going to take for the consumer to buy it,” he said.
Homegrown logos help consumers distinguish Saskatchewan products from imported varieties and can gain growers a premium.
Fury said Saskatchewan growers could provide more cauliflower, blueberries, pumpkins and cantaloupes. He suggested exploring cabbage varieties to produce better storing capabilities to extend their season and to supply brussels sprouts for Canadian Thanksgiving.
He told growers to check other provinces’ fruit and vegetable inventories, and not increase crops like carrots, which are in healthy supply.
Fury also suggested the creation of a marketing board, which would allow buyers to talk to one outlet instead of 50 growers, and provide quick access to produce.
In addition to wholesale marketing, growers explored ways to enhance their returns through direct retail markets.
Andrew Sullivan, Saskatchewan Agriculture vegetable specialist, suggested linking agritourism opportunities like school tours, corn mazes or pumpkin festivals with market garden operations.
That would increase awareness of local agriculture and could generate more traffic on the farm. Signs and advertising could advise consumers when produce is expected to ripen, he said.
Agritourism works best on farms near big centres or along major highways, because farmers can make local repeat sales and be visited by travellers.
Product size and shape matters less here, he said, noting people are more accepting of produce similar to what is grown in their own back yards.
“People want the farm experience.”
Sullivan reminded growers that marketing is “everything you do every day with your business.
“Any view you leave with people is marketing, so put your best foot forward.”
