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market-farming - Re: importance of local angle

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "jay gee" <jgj23 AT mindspring.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: importance of local angle
  • Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 03:30:48 +0000


paul & barb - on the continental divide wrote:
>>>>
I think the Coca Cola analogy is a mistake because it just doesn't appply to
us.
<<<<

The Coca Cola analogy applies very much.

The name coke is not much different from the
name cucumber, both start with c and contain
an e. What has been done with the words is
what gives them brand identity and brand power.

Coke started out as local beverage in Atlanta, GA
(if my memory is correct). It spread elsewhere
because its quality and taste were so highly
desired that the founder decided there was more
money in Coke than what he had done before.

He supplied syrup to local bottlers, a trademarked
name and bottles and the brand grew over time.

Coke did not start as a national brand but almost
killed itself as one when New Coke was introduced
as Coca Cola. Why? Because people did not want
the brand they were familiar with radically changed.
They were not unhappy with the brand, they were
unhappy that someone was seriously messing with
a product they had built up trust in.

This is the present situation with the term organic.
The USDA and agribiz are trying to still the waters.
Articles like the one in yesterday's The New York Times
create turbulence because they upset people's expectations
about what organic means and what it represented in
the past.

That is why the time is ripe now to roll out a new term with
a specific meaning tied to fixed standards of production.


paul & barb - on the continental divide also wrote:
>>>>
The Coke brand is everything because most soft drinks are so close
in taste and cost that they must promote the name and logo with every
psychological marketing ploy ever dreamed up. That's obviously not the case
with locally grown, chemical free (usually) market produce. The product is
different in several ways and that's the reason buyers will look for it and
pay more. It isn't because we have a recognized brand.
<<<<

People pay as much or more for Coke than for other everyday
soft drinks. If not in absolute price, then in terms of volume
(total dollars).

Locally grown, FM sold produce of mediocre quality will not sell
for more than high quality produce in the supermarket produce
aisle. Well branded produce sells for even more. Exceptions
occur when supermarkets use price promotions to build traffic.

The fact that produce is locally grown, without standards, is
a limiting factor to its marketability. When six farmers at market
pick summer squash to sell, the product may be indistinguishable
to the consumer. What makes it sell is the farmer's demeanor,
the story that can be told about the produce, the table layout,
an eye-catching sign, or that the shopper was standing there -
noticed the summer squash and decided to buy.

Only by labelling your produce will shoppers know it is truly local.
The act of labelling is a statement to the consumer that this
product is "XYZ." If you apply a label that misleads with the intent
to defraud (e.g., get a higher price than is justified), you are
guilty of a tort and may be guilty of a crime.

Coca Cola is bottled locally. Only Coke in Atlanta makes Coke
syrup. All Coke bottlers around the world use it to make Coke.
Coke provides the specs for the beverage and checks to make
sure they are followed. You risk your franchise as a bottler if
you don't follow the specs.

Farmers are a lot like bottlers in that they don't make the seed
stock for their product. Nature takes care of that. Farmers
either buy or save seed and act as facilitators to help those
seeds grow and flourish.

Farmers who want to additionally brand their produce, so that
a long explanation of why it is better is unnecessary, need a
way to do it that has lots of good connotations. That is what
I have described and suggested you organize to produce.

I learned a long time ago that "you can lead a horse to water
but can't make him drink." I'm okay with the fact that many
market farmers are suspicious of things they can't touch or
are not sure they understand.

We had this thread with a different twist last year about
this time and no collective action was taken then. I don't
see why it should be any different now.

Regards all,

Jay Gee
not a farmer -- but interested in farming







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