Sarah has an enviable and highly respected reputation as an excellent communicator and as an outstanding Crisis Manager (a must read is Sarah’s PR Panic blog).  This reputation comes off the back of some 20 years worth of knowledge and experience in PR and Communications; dealing with a number of high profile Crisis Management situations in the Food and Fresh Produce supply chain that Sarah project managed and delivered during her time at the NFU.

Fortunately, in my opinion, the world of Farming, Agriculture, Horticulture and Fresh Produce has gained an excellent and unique new business with Sarah starting Green Apple Communications earlier this year.

Sarah has been spending time interviewing a number of businesses in the Agriculture and Fresh Produce sector, including Hargreaves Plants Ltd via BerryBuddies and AsparaBuddies.  On the back of this interview about Social Media (which you can find here) the team at Hargreaves recommended that Sarah contact me in order to conduct an interview and to get my views and opinions.  The following is that interview, crafted by Sarah.  It was an honour to speak with Sarah and since this interview I have been fortunate enough to meet Sarah.

I do hope you enjoy reading this, and if you are looking for a simply fabulous Communicator, Project Manager and all round lovely person then I suggest you take some time to introduce yourself to Sarah via the Green Apple Communications website, Facebook, Twitter or Linked In.  Yes, she is Social Media savvy, just like me!

How one business built an excellent reputation – fast

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Sarah Whitelock, Green Apple Communications

Carol Ford has two essential qualities for good communications and for running her own business, she is proactive and imaginative.  I had been aware of her business, Growing Direct, through social media but she also has an enviable reputation within the horticultural industry.

What do you do?

My mission is to offer sales and marketing expertise to businesses in the food supply chain.  That might be anything from strategic planning at board level through to suggesting ways to speak directly with consumers.   It’s a priority for me to help farmers and growers understand the needs and expectations of the person who be cooking and eating their food.  Some suppliers and food processors only like to deal with retailers but even they need to understand what the shopper will be looking for today and tomorrow, they can’t expect the retailer to hold their hand through the process.

How long have you been in business?

I set up two years ago, before that I worked for The Greenery selling fresh produce to retailers and prior to that I was a fish and frozen food buyer for Sainsbury’s.  Although I have expertise in fish and horticulture, fruit and veg are my first love.

Do you think PR is important to your own business?

It depends on how you define PR – if it’s about relationships then absolutely because that’s at the heart of the advice I offer to my clients and it’s how I connect with them.  When I first started I was struggling to reach my customers and experimented with paid- for advertising for a while.  Then I had some training on social media and never looked back.  I mainly use Facebook and Twitter for my marketing.  However, I accept that people, and businesses, like to work in different ways so I also do presentations and make sure that I get out and meet people.

What one thing would you pass on to others to help them with their PR?

You need to understand your strategy and your brand and ensure that everything you do follows those guidelines. When you are a small business, as I am, you have to base your brand on yourself.  You can’t pretend to be something that you are not.

Some companies think that they are ‘doing’ social media when they are pushing out company speak on the social networks but that will not wash.  It has to be about speaking and listening and it has to look real and have personality.

Is there anything that you wish you had realised earlier in the growth of your business?

Not really, starting my own business has been a tough journey because there was so much to learn but I would never step back from it now.

Is there anything you wish you had not done?

I believed when I started that my skills would transfer across all types of suppliers but actually I have found that my first love is horticultural supply and its journey from the fields to the shopping basket.  Realising that was not an easy process but I am comfortable with where I am now.

What about future PR?

I don’t plan any radical changes but I will keep up to date with other social media platforms.

It was great to interview Carol, partly because I knew the interview would make interesting reading – but also because she has so many ideas on how a business can develop its marketing and PR.  To find out more about Carol go to her website, follow her business on Facebook and on Twitter @GrowingDirect.

What, why and how – did Growing Direct make it onto this rather “impressive” Long list and where do we go from here?

Some Background:

We found out about our listing on the Nominee list by accident, I had been looking at a facebook post by the wonderful Breckland Orchard “Posh Pop” to you and me – of this fantastic image:

I went in to find where Breckland was so that I could share on our facebook page – when lo and behold there were the words “Growing Direct”.  Stunned and rather taken aback (as this list was about 4 weeks old) – I then set about trying to get verification that it was my lovely little fresh produce business Growing Direct named there.  Four hours later and after much encouragement by some very excellent Twitter friends (@goodshoeday, @josordoni, @mummypreneur, @winningimpress to name but a few) I did indeed have confirmation that it was my lovely fresh produce business Growing Direct.

Not only did being on the list “blow me away” – but the fact that there were some people or advocates that had nominated me, I was “gobsmacked” and of course incredibly humbled.

I wasn’t sure why I had made this list, but according to Headstream (the Social Brand agency) it was because not only had I been nominated, but that I use Social Media to engage with others on a personal level and I try to help.  Well this was all rather overwhelming as I do Social Media for that very reason.

Now don’t get me wrong – not for one second did I believe that Growing Direct would make the Social Brands 100 short-list, primarily because there are better SME’s (Small and Medium Sized enterprises) on this list who I hugely admire, for example:

•    Muddy Boots Foods (who have made it to the 2012 short-list) – go Miranda and Roland.
•    Brays Cottage (who ranked in 2011).
•    Breckland Orchard.
•    The Artisan Food Trial.

Just to reflect, however, Growing Direct was the only, yes the only Fresh Produce business World Wide in the Nominee list and we were pitted against the likes of Sainsbury’s for example.

The results of the 2012 Social Brands 100 shortlist were announced on Friday, 20th April 2012 – and No we were not in the final short-list of 100.  We do wish all the short-listers the very best of good luck, but we are rooting for Muddy Boots Foods.  They are up against some big brands with big budgets – the likes of Tropicana, Sainsbury’s, Virgin Money / Trains & Atlantic, as well as Tetley, Walkers Crisps to name but a few.  Please do bear in mind that all of Muddy Boots Foods Social Media is undertaken by Miranda and Roland the founders and owners, there is not a team!

Having had the weekend to reflect on the achievement of even getting onto the radar of the Social Brands 100 – I am absolutely delighted to have made it as far as we did, not bad for a fresh produce business, even if I do say so myself!

Today I’m reminded, by seeing the following quote on Facebook:

“Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life it’s about what you inspire others to do”. – via Inspirational Women Magazine.  I was lucky enough to be inspired to undertake Social Media by Katrina Collier of Winning Impression, and I will be eternally grateful to her.

It isn’t always about winning, but more about helping others to win as well, this is very true of Social Media.  I suppose this is another reason why I love the platforms that are available in this virtual world.

The other thing for me though, as a Sales and Marketing professional in fresh produce, is that Social Media marketing is one of the newest tools in the Sales and Marketing toolkit.

As such I completely agree with this quote by Scott Cook, co-founder Intuit:

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” via Social Media London.

For me Social Media marketing is about the personality of your business or the culture if you like, the values you hold true coupled with the ability to not only listen but to hear your consumer.

So Where Does Growing Direct go from here in the Social Media world?

Well quite simply we carry on doing what we have been doing for the last 20 months and help businesses in fresh produce, but coupled with that, and after some encouragement, we are delighted to offer all UK based fresh produce businesses the following:

If you are based in the UK and are a fresh produce business that might like to understand a little bit more about how Social Media can work, please do feel free to get in touch.  Growing Direct offers fresh produce businesses a free 30 minute presentation on Social Media, from a sales and marketing perspective.

All the very best, Carol
Carol Ford, founder and director of Growing Direct Ltd.

Self-sufficiency in the UK has fallen from 75 per cent to 60 per cent for all food, and from 87 per cent to 74 per cent for indigenous foods since the early 1990s.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world’s farmers will need to increase production by at least 70 per cent between now and 2050 to meet the increased demand for food.

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “Producing more from our own resources strengthens the security of our food supplies, is a safeguard against food price inflation caused by shocks on world markets and must become a key strategic priority over the years ahead.”

“We are facing farming’s greatest challenge. Not only do we have to deliver a step change in productivity, but we have to do it at the same time as reducing our environmental impact, using fewer non-renewable resources, in an increasingly volatile climate.”

Kendall believes that it is possible to become self-sufficient, but farmer will have to maximise the advantages of modern science and technology to help us produce more whilst impacting less. “The days when we could neglect our own farming potential and import the balance of our food needs cheaply from around the world are over.”

Eat your way to a size Sheffield!

Hey foodies! Forget your plans for a summer diet. You’re out of luck – not with the Sheffield Food Festival back for its second year.

From the 4th – 10th July, will be the most foodi-licious offering available in South Yorkshire; celebrating all that is grown and produced locally. No doubt we’ll be served a heap of (waist bulging) showcases of Sheffield food producers, retailers and restaurants – I’ve heard to expect, fully grown Sheffield dairy cows in the city centre too – who’s let the cows out style!

For those we already know me, you’ll know how I love to hog the food limelight, so to take part in all this Food Fest’ excitement, I’ve set myself a Food Challenge which will see me eating my way through Sheffield…for a whole week! –  The ‘Missie Eat Sheffield Food Week’ Challenge. I’ll be eating and drinking a huge range of Sheffield related produce, ranging from making my own foods at home (breakfast and dinner) using Sheffield grown produce and also eating & drinking homemade Sheffield goodness made by a talented bunch of local foodies! You will have to visit my food blog: www.cindycheung.co.uk/Missie to look up the menu plan (tag: Food Challenges) or follow my food tweets: @MissieCindz – hashtag: #MissiesEatSheffieldFoodWeek – everything is looking very Sheffield-licious!

What’s the Plan?

Seven days x three meals plus 1 – 2 snacks and treats per day so that’s twenty one different ‘Sheffield’ meals (and also alot of Sheffield snacking!).

Join in, spread the word and start thinking about what you will eat and where and who you will get it from…The Menu Plan is now available on my food Blog as a PDF download for you to read (a warning though, it’s very Sheffield and tasty!).

I’m hoping that the challenge will help to highlight (and introduce) to Sheffielders and visitors (who are ‘Gastro Nutters’ like myself) the fabulous food scene our City has to offer all year round! Sausage rolls? passe; pre-packed soggy sarnies? Pah, it’s going to be all about ‘Eating Sheffield’ – meeting food producers and getting to know real food. It might be a bit difficult, but I’m sure it’s possible!

I often wonder where my food comes from and a challenge like this is not to be taken lightly. A big thank you to the Sheffield food producers, farmers and talented chefs for helping me with the ‘Missie Food Menu’ and sponsoring my Challenge by ‘Feeding Missie’ – without Sheffield Food, my Challenge wouldn’t work!

Please do make room for lots of ‘forking’ and photo snapping action during this week – or perhaps you want to join me on my challenge? (tweet me and I’ll let you know how). Sheffield has a great food scene and I’m looking forward to sharing this with you in my own Missie way!

Fork’s crossed for your Missie and let the Challenge commence!

Missie Cindz x

In just under 500 days, the Olympic Games 2012 will kick off with over 60 days of world class competition taking place in the UK. Over 8.6 million tickets will be available for the Olympic Games, with another 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games and it is estimated that during this time approximately 14 million meals will be needed, that’s equivalent to around 2% of the number of school meals served in the UK over a year.

The organising Olympic committee for the London, or as I like to refer to it the British, Olympics has heralded this as the greenest of Games ever and promising to promote sustainability and healthy living.  This, I feel, means a once in a life-time opportunity to ensure that we as a Nation promote, support and “shout-out” to all the fantastic British growers and producers to take part.  After meeting with the Prime Minister and Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office at London recently for the SME Strategic Supplier Summit, I asked David Cameron what we could do to ensure that small as well as large growers, farmers and producers get a chance to show-case their produce everywhere.

My concerns, in particular, are that if we don’t plan and programme the British growers, farmers and producers now, this year – we could end up with a gap between the increase in demand that is coming and the supply.  This would necessitate the importation of products that we are more than capable of producing and growing here in the UK.

I am also actively working together with hiSbe (Ruth and Amy Anslow) to help to promote and make the Great British public aware, via our Pledge on the Must Be British page on their website of the need to support British Farming and Food.

In order to try and give my views I’ve styled this blog in the form of an interview, below you will find a transcript of the “interview” I have given in response to the challenge of sourcing British Food for the British Olympics.

Interviewer:

A report by the ©Soil Association, Sustain and ref 2007 ‘Feeding the Olympics’ – How and why the food for London 2012 should be local, organic and ethical was the first step in a campaign to ensure that the food associated with the London 2012 Games matches the values enshrined within the Olympic Charter, and the promises made in the London bid for the “most sustainable games ever”. Specifically, the bid promised “to support consumption of local, seasonal and organic produce”.

Do you agree with the targets set out the by Olympic committee i.e. to support local, seasonal and organic or do you believe that a more realistic balance of part imported part British produce should have been agreed?

Carol Ford:….I think that organisations such as Sustain and the NFU have been critical in ensuring that LOCOG (the Olympic committee appointed to run the games) backs up its claim to support consumption of British local and seasonal food.  This has been achieved through the out sourcing with the catering contractors, and specifically their adherence to the Red Tractor standards for British supplied foods.

However, my concerns are that whilst the core contractors are bound by their contracts to source as much British grown food as possible the delivery of this remains outside of the contracts.  More to the point there has been very little dialogue with grass roots growers, farmers and producers to ensure that enough land and therefore food is being planned for next year.

The Olympics will create an additional demand for food because of the influx of customers and consumers coming to the UK for the Olympics.  Without the planning now, and I mean now, this additional demand will I believe either be met by suppliers diverting existing production to the Olympic providers taking it away from the traditional sales channels of retailers, wholesale markets, etc, leaving a gap.  This gap will need to be filled and my concern is that this gap will necessitate the need for imports.

With a little planning now and some concrete commitments to our British growers, farmers and producers this can be avoided and we can have British foods supplying both the Olympics and our normal requirements as a country.

So I do believe that there has been a big commitment made to source British, local and seasonal food at the front end (contractors) but I think that at the sharp end the production – there has been little focus.

Interviewer:

As has been shown with previous Games, aspirations to be green are often not met due to spiralling costs. For example Athens abandoned its environmental commitments due to rising costs and a fast approaching deadline. (In just two years since the bid was won, the budget for London 2012 quadrupled from its original estimates)

With just over a year to go, in your opinion would you agree that the 2012 Olympics is  still on target to be  the greenest Games of all time with regard to supporting the consumption of local, seasonal and organic produce or has the vision been scaled down?

Carol Ford:…the original vision has had to be scaled down in the sense that organic produce is still a niche market when compared to conventional production methods.  I am of the opinion that there has been a lot of work completed in getting adherence to British local and seasonal food ambition, which is fantastic.  As above I am doubtful or have concerns that the additional production required to meet this spike in demand is there.  I am of the opinion still that not enough has been done to increase production.

Whilst LOCOG has been great at getting the catering contractors within the Olympics – like the village for example – there has been virtually no work completed on promoting and compelling British locally and seasonally sourced foods for those outlets, such as local shops, pubs, restaurants, etc., outside of the Olympics.  This brings me back again to the point we will have an additional influx of visitors next year over and above the normal amount of overseas visitors we have coming to the UK for holidays.

Interviewer:

There was some initial concern that smaller producers would not get an opportunity to supply the Games, despite LOCOG’s commitments to showcase British produce.

In your experience do you feel that LOCOG have ensured that a substantial percentage of fresh produce is being sourced from local and regional suppliers?

Carol Ford:…I am of the opinion that smaller producers that produce some brilliant British produce at this stage will not get a bite of the cherry.  I am hopeful that the NFU inspired scheme of employing Business Development Managers at the Wholesale markets may be a way of small producers getting their produce to market.

The last thing any farmer or grower wants to do is grow or produce more if they do not have a sale for their produce.  I think LOCOG needs to ensure that programmes and contracts are given to our farmers and growers to build confidence in them to grow additional produce for the Olympics, in order to fulfil not only the needs of the nation in 2012, but also to ensure there is a British local and seasonal legacy after the Olympics.

But there is also a responsibility on all of us in the UK as consumers to support our wonderful heritage as farmers and growers.  This industry contributes to the National, Regional and Local economies, the Olympics represent an opportunity to get behind not only our national teams, but also our heritage.  It may not be glamorous but farming is the life blood of our country, the ability to feed ourselves as a nation should be a priority.

Interviewer:

With the emphasis of the 2012 Games being on promoting links between healthy eating, sport and well being, with up to 2 million meals being served to children during the games, how do you believe the fresh produce industry’s 5 a day message should be championed if it is to inspire healthy lifestyles in our young. Especially when fast-food giants McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are the main sponsors of the Games?

Carol Ford:…Change 4 Life, the NFU, the Fresh Produce Consortium to name but a few, should be engaging more widely with the UK population.   This can be easily achieved if the right tactics were in place to deliver the strategy of 5-a-day.  Quite simply I find it amazing almost shocking for example that there is no 5-a-day facebook page, an interesting point to note – there is an “I Fail at 5-a-day” facebook page that has some 95,000 followers/likes.  It is also amazing that the 5-a-day campaign will be remembered for decreasing consumption of fresh foods and produce.

I understand that the budgets these types of food giants have can’t be matched, by campaigns such as 5-a-day, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be successful in inspiring healthy lifestyles in our young.  Particularly when you have a sporting event as iconic as the Olympics already advertising using sports people/personalities.

With our Must Be British “Shout-Out” campaign, we (hiSbe and Growing Direct) have demonstrated by using the right tools (Social Media) with a positive message “We’ve Got the World Coming to Dinner” – you can engage and re-connect the Great British public with our Great British heritage of growing and farming.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I would ask have you made the Pledge yet?

As a busy mum with my own business and two young children, I am passionate about helping families get the most out value out of their time, money and food. Inventing eco easy products and sharing my tips and advice, I help people live an easier green life, whilst being kinder to the environment.

In addition to this, I am also an advocate of fresh produce. Not only is fresh produce wonderfully healthy, it is versatile, sustainable and is true value for money.

Every month I will be guest blogging here on Growing Direct’s blog, sharing my tips and advice on how you can get the most out of fresh produce. From e-convenient food preparation ideas, to savvy food shopping tips and recipes, I’ll be reporting on the many benefits of fresh produce.

I will be kicking off with a true British classic, Trout and Asparagus Pie – perfect for those long summer days we’ll soon be having!

Don’t forget to make a comment and let me know what tips and ideas you’ve got too.

Thank you, Queen of Easy Green™

www.queenofeasygreen.co.uk

Enjoy a British classic this summertime!

Photo courtesy of www.british-asparagus.co.uk

As we head towards the summer months a wealth of fresh, seasonal ingredients provide the inspiration for light and healthy dishes and there can be none better than the homegrown British classic – asparagus.

Full of flavour and nutrients, the British asparagus has a relatively short season, from May to July, but what it lacks in length of season, it certainly makes up in versatility.

With its distinctively subtle flavour, asparagus is the perfect accompaniment to a wide variety of dishes, as well as being an ideal ingredient for every meal of the day. Either steamed, boiled, roasted, chargrilled or stir-fried, asparagus is a truly versatile ingredient and a cook’s delight.

One gorgeously nutritious way to enjoy this homegrown superfood is to accompany it with an oily fish such as trout – another British favourite.

Recently featured on Jamie Oliver’s Fish Supper as part of Channel 4’s Fish Season, British Trout is widely available in supermarkets, independent fishmongers, farm shops and delicatessens across the country as whole fish, fillets, hot smoked or cold smoked.

Like asparagus, trout is packed full of nutrients, as well as being lower in calories than many other oily fish, including salmon and mackerel.

To celebrate these delicious ingredients, The British Trout Association has come up with this gorgeous recipe for Trout and Asparagus Pie. Impressive to look at, this dish is surprisingly easy to make, with crisp filo pastry topping delicious layers of trout, ricotta cheese, asparagus and mushrooms.

Yummy and Delish

Photo courtesy of the British Trout Association and Practical Pictures

So, with the start of the season only a whisker away, why not put asparagus on your shopping list and enjoy this culinary classic.

To get you in the mood and the celebrate this fabulous British vegetable why not also make a date in your diary for:-

The Great English Asparagus Run and the official Launch of the 2011 British Asparagus Festival which is taking place on 23^rd April.

It’s a fun packed day to celebrate the best of England – Vale Asparagus and St Georges Day.

For more details visit http://www.britishasparagusfestival.org/

Trout and Asparagus Pie

Serves 6–8

Ingredients:

• 115g/4oz asparagus
• 75g/3oz/6 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 115g/4oz/1 & half cups button (white) mushrooms, sliced
• 30ml/2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 250g/9oz/generous 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 115g/4oz/half a cup mascarpone cheese
• 450g/1lb trout fillet, skinned
• 8 filo pastry sheets, each measuring 45 x 25cm/18 x 10in
• salt and ground black pepper
• butter, for greasing
• flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Grease a 23cm/9in springform cake tin (pan). Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the asparagus and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water and drain again.
2. Heat 25g/1oz/2 tbsp of the butter in a frying pan and add the onion. Cook for 3–5 minutes or until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the parsley and season well with salt and black pepper.
3. In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta and mascarpone cheeses. Stir in the onion mixture. Melt the remaining butter in a small pan.
4. Line the cake tin with the filo pastry sheets, brushing each layer with melted butter and leaving the edges hanging over the sides of the tin. While you are working with one filo pastry sheet, keep the rest covered with a damp, clean dishtowel so that they do not dry out.
5. Place half the ricotta mixture in the base of the filo-lined tin. Remove any remaining pin bones from the trout fillets, then arrange them in a single layer over the ricotta. Season well.
6. Top with the asparagus and the remaining ricotta mixture. Bring the overhanging edges of the pastry over the top, and brush the layers with the remaining butter.
7. Bake the pie for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil and cook for a further 15 minutes.
8. To serve, remove the pie from the tin and place it on a warmed serving plate. Serve in slices, garnished with flat leaf parsley.

Recipe courtesy of the British Trout Association – www.britishtrout.co.uk.

Dear fellow producer,

Getting to the Heart of Horticulture in the West Midlands

If you grow a horticultural crop, including potatoes, we need your help to create a strong voice for the sector.

As many growers as possible are needed to complete a straightforward survey which will benefit your farm business and help promote regional horticulture.

The survey will:

• Provide evidence to support planning applications which are often thwarted because local authorities don’t appreciate the importance of horticulture.

• Make sure that horticulture is not forgotten by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) who will have funds and responsibility to promote industry in the region.

• Give all horticultural businesses in the West Midlands a wide range of facts and figures that will be useful when applying for RDPE funding and other grants.

• Highlight what can be done to improve the profitability of the sector and encourage supply chains to work more effectively.

Today no reliable data exists to indicate what is grown, how many people are employed or how much value is created by the horticultural sector.

In the future it will be essential for anyone trying to help producers in the sector to have reliable facts at their fingertips to support their arguments.

If you grow any crop that can be considered horticultural we’ll be extremely grateful if you could spare a few minutes to complete our short on- line survey.

You can access it here: –> http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/heartofhort

Alternatively the survey can be completed on a printed form.

To request a survey form to be sent to you please ring EFFP on 0207 213 0430.

All responses will remain anonymous unless you choose to let us know your identity.  There is, however, an opportunity to add contact details to the survey if you are interested in being part of our focus group or you wish to receive a copy of the final report.

Thank you for your support in helping us to put your important sector on the map.

We would like to record our thanks to AHDB who are acting as a facilitator / mailing house for this survey and would also like to stress that no levy payer data has been shared.

Yours faithfully

Anthony Snell

Chairman

NFU West Midlands Horticultural Board

Despite the Government’s 5 a day campaign now being in its 8^th year, according to a recent report by the European trade body, Freshfel, fresh produce consumption in the EU and the UK is down – again.  With fresh fruit intake per capita declining by 6% in 2009 and the consumption of fresh vegetables also down by 0.5%.

But why, with the current trend of healthy eating being more prominent on our TV screens and in our media is:

• Our population getting larger (almost a quarter of adults -24% of men and 25% of women aged 16 or over in England are classified as obese (BMI 30kg/m2 or over)).  Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2010

And

• Our consumption of fresh produce in decline?

I believe the answer to both of these problems lies in the power of marketing.

As anyone who owns a television, shops at a supermarket, picks up a magazine and turns on a computer will know, the product’s with the most influential, expensive marketing campaigns usually belong to fast, convenience food companies.

With budgets that far outstrip fresh produce, snack companies can afford to aggressively compete for their market share – leaving the likes of fresh produce well and truly out in the cold.

The obvious knock on effect of these intense marketing campaigns is that:

• Snack food advertising, promotion and our over-exposure to it can (and has been blamed) for the increasing rates of obesity amongst children (A study by the Journal of Law & Economics, suggested that scrapping fast-food commercials could reduce obesity in the US by as much as 18%).

and

• Less aggressively promoted fresh produce becomes ‘invisible’ in the market place, or if not completely invisible, unpalatable to many.

So how can fresh produce compete?

Well one way could be to play them (the snack food giants) at their own game.  In fact in the US, a group of 50 carrot growers have joined forces with ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, to do just this and they are promoting baby carrots ‘in a way that mimics snack brands like Doritos or Snickers’.  They aim to test the theory that if healthy foods use “the same marketing wizardry as not-so-healthy foods, children would be more like to eat them” (to see more on this: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/31/baby-carrots ).

But what if fresh produce suppliers haven’t got a budget of millions (the baby carrot campaign cost about £16million) how else can we increase the sale of fresh produce?

An answer – Social Media.

In the last couple of years, the use of social media has exploded and these days it’s not just the playground of teenagers.  Meeting online is now dominated by twentysomethings plus (over 8 million 20 – 29 year olds in the UK regularly using Facebook) and businesses have now started to include it as one of their primary marketing tools. (Source: http://www.clickymedia.co.uk ).

So what are the benefits?

First of all, the use of social media when compared to traditional forms of marketing such as advertising is that it is incredibly cost-effective.  Instead of multi-million pound budgets required for adverts, press and publicity, social media campaigns can be produced at a fraction of a cost – in fact, setting up an online account is actually free!

Secondly, the major benefit of social media over usual marketing activities is that it gives you the ability to create unique relationships with your customers.  Rather than a one-stop message, social media allows you to talk directly with your customers, listen to them and react, immediately.

Social media also allows you to make your brand part of your customer’s lives.  Involve them, respect their opinion, share with them and in return you will get their loyalty, support and they will spread the word to their friends.  Word of mouth marketing – the most powerful form of marketing a product can have.

Did you know that on Twitter 25% of people follow a brand with 67% stating they would purchase that brand?  (Source: http://www.browsermedia.co.uk ).

Whenever you ask people to define ‘poor customer service’ the usual response is ‘nobody listens’, ‘nobody cares’ or the classic, ‘I can’t get through to anyone’.  Again, when social media is done correctly, businesses can have a more open, trustworthy relationship with their customers.  Being responsive and reacting quickly to their concerns will have an infinitely more positive result than a multitude of flash, expensive adverts and press releases.

Actively involved customers are also a wonderful resource for gathering feedback, ideas, inspiration or crowd-sourcing as it is also called.  Rather than use an agency to poll a focus-group, use your own committed social media fans instead – as well as delivering real results and opinions, involving them in the decision-making will also give them ownership, fantastic for future word of mouth marketing.

Can social media fail or even be a negative thing?  Of course it can, especially when it is not done correctly or it is not given the time and dedication that is needed.  As in the real world, conversations don’t just stop, so to keep your customers involved and interested, you will need to do it daily.

Of course, this can be done by a member of staff, but it can also be outsourced.  What is important is that whoever is tasked with your social media campaign, they must genuinely engage with and understand your customers.  Similarly to the outside world, in social media, the marketer who relentlessly pushes out marketing messages without showing any real interest or engaging with those responding will soon find themselves shunned and abandoned.

So, back to the initial problem, how can we increase fresh produce consumption in the UK?

The answer – we must get fresh produce on the map in the social media world.  We must engage with our core customers, talk to them in their language, through their medium and tell them the key benefits of fresh produce that is relevant to their lives.

Using social media, fresh produce can compete alongside multi-million pound convenience food businesses – size doesn’t matter.  In fact, the smaller the business the better, the more flexible it is, the easier it can adapt and evolve, keeping itself relevant to their customers’ needs and wants.

If the ‘I fail at 5 a day’ fanpage on Facebook can have just short 95,000 fans/likes – consider the possibilities of an official ‘5 a day’ Facebook page.

Finally, a great example to show how powerful using the right media for the right audience can be is this. When Icelandic Magnus Scheving partnered his famous Lazy Town children’s characters with Asda, the store saw a 28 percent increase in the sale of their Great Stuff fruit and vegetable range. In fact, in Iceland where the show first started, they are now seeing a downward trend in obesity rates.

So let’s take fresh produce and engage online – our audience is there, we just need to make sure we’re connecting with them on their terms and in their language!

Redfox have recently interviewed Matt Simister of Tesco to discuss some of the key aspects of the Group Food Sourcing (GFS) programme that is currently reshaping some of the aspects of the fresh supply chain both in the UK and internationally. Matt has been with Tesco for over 15 years, having been at a senior level within the meat category, before running the Czech division and then being brought back to the UK  to major on the Group Food Sourcing initiative.

Redfox are currently working with Tesco on a number of GFS roles both in the UK and internationally http://www.redfoxexecutive.com/ . There has been a lot of discussion around the subject and as such, we wanted to get the direct view from Tesco as to what they see as the potential of GFS and also for all of those that are involved with it either for now or in the near future.

It’s fascinating viewing as Matt is very candid in his views.  He alludes to the type of individuals they would like to be associated with both in terms of being a Tesco employee or in key roles within the Tesco GFS supply-base.

The development of the programme will be extremely interesting to watch as it continues apace in the UK and internationally.

Max MacGillivray of Redfox Interviews Matt Simister of Tesco’s GFS Programme

I found this news item in that fantastic Fresh Produce industry Journal the FPJ:

With Christmas fast approaching and the traditional dinner being planned, one of the nation’s favourite vegetables faces a race against time to grace this year’s plate.

Sprouts supplies have become increasingly strained over the past year with some retailers already turning to emergency Dutch crops to satisfy demand.

Chris Gedney managing director of Boston-based grower TH Clements, said planting conditions were “exceptionally good” this year with the crop sown throughout May, but problems started to arise once the exceptionally dry weather of July and August arrived in the key period when sprouts put on most of their weight.

Gedney said: “We had planted extra acreage for the season to ensure no shortages, however we are now forecasting to have just enough at best.”

Sprout availability has been further hampered this week with freezing temperatures embracing the country, causing frost damage to the exposed crops.

MET office predictions covering the 9-21 December – the key Christmas harvesting period – forecast freezing temperatures throughout the planted areas.

Gedney added: “We have put contingency plans in place and are preparing to harvest throughout the night to ensure the sprouts reach our customers.

“We are adding fleece to a large proportion of the more susceptible crop in the lead up to Christmas in order to keep both the sprouts and ground a little warmer.”

The UK sprout industry has a retail value of £54 million a year and has seen steady growth over the past four years according to Kantar Worldpanel data, bucking the trend seen throughout other brassica produce.

More than 40,000 tonnes are consumed throughout the UK with the busy festive period accounting for over 67 per cent of the annual tonnage.

So my simple solutions are as follows:

• Buy some fresh UK grown Sprouts now & freeze them (you can prep them 1st & then freeze them).
• Or, buy a mixture of fresh UK grown and frozen Sprouts nearer to Christmas time (when you do your normal Christmas shop).
• Finally, buy some Count-on-It labels to remind you – so you are not guessing when you froze your Sprouts!

Fresh and Frozen Sprouts taste great – so let’s give our UK Sprout farmers a helping hand this year!

Growing Direct noticed this news story on a Tweet by FreshInfo news, and it really is worthy of using Social Media to its full extent to help to share, celebrate and cheer on our Fantastic UK based Fresh Produce growers and businesses.

Dr Steve Rothwell won the Best Fresh Produce gong at this year’s Q Quality Food Awards in London last week for his Super Hot Rocket.

Dr Steve Rothwel

The product is part of the Steve’s Leaves range of washed and ready to eat salads, which are in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and The Co-operative.

The Hampshire-based firm beat off competition from The Jersey Royal Company, which came in second.

Well done to Steve and his team at Steve’s Leaves and to the worthy runners up The Jersey Royal Company, we are proud of you both.

Source: Freshinfo News

A new promotional campaign has been launched to promote Spanish salads to British shoppers during their main winter season.

The initiative has been set up by Spanish grower Natural & Salads, sister company of UK fresh produce importer DAS International, and focuses on whole head products including, celery, iceberg lettuce, cos and romaine lettuce, and little gem.

It aims to raise awareness through the consumer press, highlighting the season for Spanish salads and providing simple ideas for using salads in everyday winter cooking – hot and cold.

Johnnie Mountain

UK celebrity chef Johnnie Mountain of the BBC’s Great British Menu has created recipes for the campaign, which demonstrate how to incorporate iceberg, romaine and celery into three winter dishes.

In a statement, DAS International’s Simon Allgood said: “Our research into British shoppers has given us specific goals for Spanish salads – products such as romaine lettuce and little gem, for example, currently over index among more upmarket shoppers, and there is an opportunity to encourage more young adults and young families to purchase, and increase frequency for existing users.

“In the mature iceberg category, we want more upmarket shoppers, who are currently buying less, to revaluate the product by drawing attention to its taste and quality, and to provide inspiration for using it during the winter and beyond.

“The Winter Salads campaign sets out to address the opportunities in the category. It is about driving awareness amongst shoppers of key winter lines, and highlighting availability and usage while they are on the shelves.”

Natural & Salads recently set up a business division, Natural Salads Direct, to handle direct supplies from grower to its customers. The company said the new unit was established to “ensure clarity” of the company’s direct sourcing strategy, and would be supported by DAS International where necessary.

Source: Freshinfonews

Social media might be firmly entrenched in the daily lives of many Britons, but the fresh produce industry has been relatively slow to get involved. Chloe Ryan asks what the industry has to gain from increased online interaction

When Helen Evans of New Covent Garden Market checked her Twitter account a few weeks ago, a greengrocer from Herne Bay had got in touch. He was trying to track down a particular squash variety for one of his customers and wondered if any stall holders sold it. Thanks to social media, the Herne Bay shopper got his squash, and the greengrocer was introduced to a new supplier.

Since Evans started tweeting from Covent Garden Market Authority in March, she says the benefits have been numerous. “It has been fascinating,” she explains. “I started it to raise our profile, but I’ve been surprised at the amount of other information I’ve picked up. I have had conversations with the driver who delivers Nutbourne tomatoes from Sussex and we’ve discovered some really interesting customers that we would never have known were out there. There is a guy called Marc Demarquette, who is an amazing chocolate maker. He buys really good quality soft fruit from the market to make his caramels and his chocolates, which sell at Fortnum & Mason. We are building up a network of small- and medium-sized customers who use the market through Twitter; it is just about connecting with the foodie world.”

Others in the fresh produce industry have also discovered the benefits of using social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Rick Sanderson, commercial manager at From My Farm, uses Twitter to chat with others in the industry, share useful information and build a network of contacts.

“I follow all the supermarkets and every now and then you get a snippet of what is happening,” he says. “What’s interesting is I find out what some of our competitors are doing.” He says LinkedIn tends to have a wider following among those in the industry, who value the fact that content isn’t public, as it is with Twitter and some Facebook pages.

Carol Ford of Growing Direct is a big proponent of the power of social media. She uses Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to talk to others in the industry and says it enables her to be contactable even when she is in a meeting or can’t answer the phone. “When I was setting up the business in March, I found a social media professional who gave me three hours of training,” she recalls. “I discovered that not only was it free, but it was a way to network where you didn’t have to be present. I tweet about fresh produce on a daily basis.”

According to the Forum of Private Business, 52 per cent of its members now use websites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. However, of that 52 per cent, some 27 per cent have expressed doubts about the value of social networking.

“We believe that social media does hold a great deal of potential for many SMEs,” says spokesman Phil McCabe. “It’s conversational, real-time nature makes it ideal for entrepreneurs and small, dynamic firms which often have much more relaxed attitudes towards public relations than big corporations. Also, sites like Twitter can provide valuable and cost-free feedback on customer and client satisfaction.”

Some believe that the reason some SMEs have doubts about the value of social media is that they don’t fully understand its uses and how it works.

According to Matt Rebeiro of social media consultant RMM, for businesses that aren’t sure where to start, social media should be viewed as a conversation. “When you are new to a conversation you have to listen to what people are saying, so imagine you are at a cocktail party. You have to listen to what people are saying before you start talking or else it will be tangential or meaningless.

“The first thing we always say is to listen to what conversations are happening online and the great thing about social media is that those conversations are so often happening in public, whether on blogs or Facebook or Twitter. You can find out what is being said about fresh produce in a number of different locations online, and from those conversations fresh produce companies can work out what people are talking about. So when you do actually start doing something, whether that be setting up a Facebook page or starting a blog, you can have a better idea of what you can talk about and the issues you can address.”

The important thing to remember is not to overtly try to sell yourself, but allow conversations to develop with potential customers. “Going back to the dinner party analogy, no-one would turn up at a dinner party trying to sell something,” says Rebeiro. “But later in the conversation if someone asks for a recommendation about what apple to buy then you can join in and say, ‘Well, I represent an apple growing company’ and talk about it, but you need to respond to what people are talking about rather than pushing it on them.”

Ford says she was surprised when she started the business at how few in the fresh produce industry had caught on to the fact social media was a powerful, and free tool. “I reckon 95 per cent of fresh produce businesses are not using social media in a proactive way,” she says. “We’ve got a massive gap between the generation coming through – our consumers, employees, entrepreneurs – that are using this as a matter of course. This is not anything that is new to them, it is as normal as talking, they use it all the time.

“I was truly gobsmacked by the lack of engagement by the fresh produce industry, but then there are a lot of people who barely use email, so I’m not sure why I am surprised.”

Rebeiro recommends companies should start small and think about what objectives they have. “There is no point doing any social media activity if it doesn’t link back to an actual business objective, be it from a marketing perspective to increase interest or to increase customer retention or to improve sales efficiencies,” he says.

“You need to make sure whatever business objectives you have, social media links to that. That might be to increase the discussion around a specific thing you’re selling or to increase the number of people recommending your service, or it might be people becoming involved in the sales process and becoming an advocate, so there are a lot of ways that social objectives can latch on to business objectives. It is not about how many Facebook fans or how many followers you have on Twitter, it has to link back to business objectives so you can then start to work out what you’re getting.”

While the world of social media may seem confusing at first, for those who have adopted it, such as Ford, the sentiment is clear. “The resource that is there is so rich and rewarding in terms of the networking opportunities and getting to know people,” she says. “Any company that thinks social media can’t benefit their business is I think being quite shortsighted.”

I will admit that I’m no blogger nor journalist, but I am hoping that my take on the event as someone who has been heavily involved in Fresh Produce industry for more years than I care to remember, would be interesting and might even be of use.

This Blog in the form of bite-sized Tweets will, I hope, give you a flavour of the event and the types of topics and issues that were discussed that affect growers, farmers, producers, suppliers, retailers, wholesalers, food service and food processing within the Fresh Produce industry supply chain.

The stats:

• A “Tweet” is max 140 characters or less (including spaces).
• 72 Tweets by @GrowingDirect – (that’s me).
• 1 Question by a Fresh Produce consumer.
• 7 RT’s (Re-Tweets).
• 3 interests shown in potential produce supply.
• #FPJWM and #freshproduce – hash tags predominantly used, so that Tweeters could follow the Twitter updates and help to search for trending topics.
• Approximately 50-60 attendees.

Tweet: All at @fpjlive #freshproduce #FPJWM #in Stratford upon Avon lookout 4 our Tweets #growers

• A call to all those who follow Fresh Produce to look out for the Tweets with the “marker” #FPJWM.

Topic – The Growers’ Platform: How companies within the region can work together to improve the supply chain.

• Speakers John Chinn – Cobrey Farms & Anthony Snell AJ & CI Snell.

First up was John Chinn from Cobrey Farms.

Tweet: John Chinn from Cobrey Farm talking about farming in Herefordshire #freshproduce #FPJWM

John spoke about the history of farming in Herefordshire and the entrepreneurial and Innovative nature of the growers there.  This has been driven mainly by the incredibly small pockets of land and the undulating nature of the landscape.  The drive for innovation is also due in part to the poor transport links and the higher costs of transportation.

John went on to speak about his analysis of the SWOT (Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities and Threats) of the Herefordshire grower base and the challenges it faces.  He also posed the question are all supermarkets the same?

Tweet: Are supermarkets all the same? #freshproduce #FPJWM

John also spoke about “Terroir” of the region – Wikipedia definition is loosely translated as “a sense of place”, embodied in certain characteristic qualities, the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the manufacture of the product.

Tweet: Interesting that Cobrey Farms & the Chinn family R #farming according 2 the landscape wiv a diverse range of crops #freshproduce #FPJWM

Innovation with the main farming activities includes poly-tunnel’s to extend the British Asparagus season along with a vineyard.  Cobrey farms are currently running a 3-4 week trial of British Asparagus in Marks and Spencer (4 London stores) in direct competition with imported Asparagus with the UK grown crop at double the retail of the imported!  Guess which one cannot keep up with demand – yes it’s the British crop.

Tweet: Fact: poly covered Asparagus Saves approx 600tons of CO2 vs imported from Peru <–worth paying 7p/bundle 4 British #FPJWM #freshproduce

Along with the extension of the season of British Asparagus – John has his own little passion for growing his newly planted Vineyard of Grapes for British wine production.

Tweet: Cobrey Farms also using a steep slope *justliketheromans* to #freshproduce wine from vineyards #FPJWM

This is a historical trial to see if Cobrey can reproduce English “sparkling” wine (Champagne to you and me and very nice it was too ).

Next up was Anthony Snell (AJ & CI Snell) a soft fruit grower from Herefordshire, and also NFU West Midlands Horticulture Board Chair.

Tweet: Next up #in #FPJWM #freshproduce conference is Anthony Snell #Softfruit #growers

Anthony not only confirmed the difficult geography, but highlighted the great soils that growers in Herefordshire had to work with.  Some positives here for the Political climate in so much for there seems to be more support from the new Government – singled out for praise at this stage were Jim Paice (Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and Caroline Spelman (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

Mainly the Snell farming operation produces soft fruit of Strawberries and Raspberries:

Tweet: Key to the Snell #Softfruit is to #freshproduce the right variety with Gr8 flavour & yield here #in the UK #FPJWM

The Snell farm also produces some 600 tonnes of Blackcurrants, and has an active promotional vehicle in the shape of British Blackcurrants (Twitter @UKBlackcurrants).

Tweet: #freshproduce Fact: did u know that some 90% of Blackcurrants r 4 Ribena!! #FPJWM

RT by @UKShallots: RT @GrowingDirect: #freshproduce Fact: did u know that some 90% of Blackcurrants r 4 Ribena!! #FPJWM

RT by @activemdkate: RT @GrowingDirect: #freshproduce Fact: did u know that some 90% of Blackcurrants r 4 Ribena!! #FPJWM <yep & most grown in nfk #norfolkdiet

The Snell farming operation also uses self-promotion by opening the farm up to school children (the Ribena Open Day) along with hosting the Radio 4 farming programme for a week.

Following on from this Anthony went onto explain that soft fruit (led heavily by Strawberries) is now the leading fruit category, with its share up by +11.3%.

Tweet: #Softfruit is now the leading #fruit category with #in #freshproduce #FPJWM +11.3%

Anthony did go onto comment about the move out of 454g punnets into 400g and 300g punnets this season (which for the retailer deliver lower and more attractive retail price points for the consumer).  The soft fruit growers would be looking for a move back into the larger weight of punnets for 2011 season.

In Anthony’s opinion he felt the new Direct approach by Retailers to the larger growers was short-sighted, and urged for all growers to “stick together”, as this “was the road to ruin”.

Tweet: bigger #growers being “flattered” by #direct approaches by the #Retailers | apparently the *road2ruin* | #freshproduce debate #in #FPJWM

I felt this was an “interesting” opinion and take upon the changes occurring within the Fresh Produce supply chain and procurement evolution towards Vertical Integration.  I must admit to having a vested interest in growers going directly to their customer base (well the business I run is called Growing Direct)!  But I do believe that Direct sourcing will never be able to replace all Sales and Marketing desks – just that these desks/middle-men have to prove their value to not only the customer (be that retailer, food service, wholesaler or processor) but critically to the growers and producers.

Tweet: UK #farmers & #growers doing a FAB job #in supporting wildlife #freshproduce #FPJWM

Anthony did mention that the reason some of the improvements in wildlife populations was down to positive action by farmers and growers.

Topic – Investment in Horticulture: Is the Fresh Produce Industry being held back by “red tape” and the inability of the industry to promote the benefits of systems (greenhouses / poly tunnels) to the general public.

• Speakers Chris Brooks – Whychavon District Council & David Shepherd – Evesham Vale Growers.

First up in this section was Chris Brooks from Whychavon District Council.

Tweet: Next session at #FPJWM conference how easy is it to invest #in Horticulture? #freshproduce

Tweet: Next up to discuss planning #freshproduce Chris Brooks Wychavon Council #FPJWM | how to engage with us?

Chris asked a lot of common sense questions about engagement with the respective councils and the local communities including Parish Councils.  A great question posed by was around this engagement versus the strength of the opposition.

Tweet: Is planning permission obstructive? #FPJWM #freshproduce | depends on engagement & opposition

Some of the examples that Chris used and the incredibly vast “policy” book (well tomb actually) that he showed us, the question in my mind was “where is the common sense”?

Tweet: Does planning policy include any element of *commonsense* ? #FPJWM #freshproduce <– depends on nature of the complaint

Chris went onto discuss the concept of “localism” and this being part of businesses engagement plans with their communities, and ensuring that this is ongoing.  Chris also spoke about the loss of the Rural Development Agencies (RDA’s) and that in some circumstances (like Worcestershire) not being replaced with the LEP body – this will have an impact.

Tweet: Where does “localism” fit within planning, investment & the local community #freshproduce #FPJWM

Some great advice by Chris on local businesses getting involved at a strategic level within the local community but also about ensuring that all Workers (that are required to be) are on the Workers Registration Scheme.

Tweet: #growers & #suppliers should engage with the local community & the new LEP’s #FPJWM #freshproduce

Chris was also vocal about the fresh produce industry in telling the Government what we needed as an industry around topics such as SAWS and why it works for us.

Tweet: Gr8 bit of advice 4 #growers #in #freshproduce : Tell the Government why SAWS is sooo good #FPJWM

Next up was David Shepherd from Evesham Vale Growers.

Tweet: Next up David Shepherd Evesham Vale Growers // planning from a #growers perspective #freshproduce #FPJWM

David gave us his perspective as a growing fresh produce business to some of the constraints facing growers in local communities.  Evesham Vale Growers have been growing in the Vale for more than 35 years and is a successful family owned business.  They have a good balance of customers and products that they supply to both retailers and other outlets. They are the UK’s largest specialist growers and the only ones growing using hydroponics.

Tweet: Very funny take on the serious issue of Planning Permission <David Shepherd> #freshproduce #FPJWM

Whilst the presentation was amusing there were some serious points that David shared with the audience including like why it took just over four years to get a fully operational packhouse erected.  But the biggest hurdle was gaining planning permission for a 20 acre greenhouse – which took just over 5 years, including the amends, refusal’s and re-amends.

They got final approval for a 12 acre greenhouse, which unfortunately is not as top spec as it should be, for example the height of the facility versus our European competitors.  I think a missed opportunity for an excellent investment in upgrade to improve Fresh Produce production and to help expand a thriving UK and local business.  Just to be a little light hearted at this stage EVG were even asked “will you take the Greenhouse down when you go bust”!

Tweet: “will u take it down when u go bust” <– comments from planning objections #freshproduce #FPJWM #in

To put this into context versus some of the other planning applications for greenhouses that have been approved (outside of the West Midlands):

• Baarda – 2006 – 38 acres.
• Thanet Earth – 2009 – 67 acres.

David did say that there was a total lack of understanding by the Parish council of the project and the initiatives that EVG wanted to focus on and include like investment further into sustainable and competitive, leading edge production.

David and the EVG team are not sitting on their laurels though regarding more planning applications for environmentally friendly solutions – they are next going to tackle installation and commissioning of an Anaerobic Digester – and I wish them all the very best of good luck!

This is where I feel that the Fresh Produce industry as a collective should be having a more engaging discussion with the public.  It is also where I feel that Social Media can have a really positive impact as part of and with the right strategic plan – is it not time we celebrated successful Fresh Produce businesses and helped them to develop further and contribute more to the economy?

Topic – Making the Region Sustainable: Open Debate with FPJ Editor Michael Barker.

The top table was made up of: Anthony Snell (AJ & CI Snell), John Chinn (Cobrey Farms), Sarah Pettitt (NFU Horticulture Board Chair) and Sue Kennedy (Elsoms Seeds’).

Tweet: Next session at #FPJWM conference | Making The Region Sustainable – open debate #freshproduce

Michael kicked off the debate by asking John to further expand upon the innovative approach that Cobrey Farms had taken regarding expanding the British Asparagus season to November.

Tweet: Continuing 2 innovate 2 be able 2 extend our British offer 4 the #consumer #in freshproduce #FPJWM

Sarah and John made good points about season extensions by discussing the need to secure a fixed permanent team of employees throughout the year.

Tweet: Coupled with continuity of secure employment opportunities with #in #freshproduce #FPJWM

Sarah then went on to demonstrate how the Grow EM: The Horticulture Industry in the East Midlands, is a fantastic example of a joined up strategic document that qualifies the positive economic impact that Fresh Produce has not only in that region but also on the Economy at national level.

Tweet: #calltoaction West Midlands sustainability report of what is the strategy 4 the region? #freshproduce #FPJWM // by Sarah Pettitt

Sarah then asked the following question of the audience:

Tweet: Good question at #FPJWM –> who is setting the Agenda 4 #freshproduce to produce more?

Tweet: Any #freshproduce biz #growers #retailers or #suppliers want 2 ask the panel a question at #FPJWM ? just Tweet me

The above Tweet is just asking if any Tweeters following the conference would like to ask the panel a question.

Another great question posed was around who and if we as the Fresh Produce industry were promoting ourselves and our Great British products for the 2012 Olympics.  And who was going to be co-ordinating the additional volumes of produce that were likely to be needed for the increased visitors to the UK.

Tweet: #2012Olympics should we be promoting British #freshproduce? #FPJWM

I asked the question of Twitter followers.

Tweet: Are we as a nation supportive of British #freshproduce *justasking* #FPJWM

One of the 5 Tweets back was:

Tweet: (from @MowgliTweets) @GrowingDirect: In my experience has to be No, not on the whole.  There are small pockets of ‘resistance’ though :-

I then sent out a reminder to Twitter that if anyone had any questions to tweet them to me so that I could ask the panel.

Tweet: Any #freshproduce interested ppl pls Tweet your #FPJWM questions & I’ll happily ask #in

We then broke for a well organised hot buffet lunch, including some great British produce.  At this point I had Tweeted 35 Tweets of (remember) not more than 140 characters per Tweet.  I also had a number of DM’s (they are Direct Messages) from Fresh Produce people who were following (or more commonly known as “shadowing”) the FPJ West Midlands conference.

Topic – Making the Best of Retail home and away: the view of the Fresh Produce market Locally, Nationally and Are Supplier Relations improving.

Thanks to the comments made by Anthony Snell there was a lot of “outside of conference” discussion about Direct sourcing by the retailers, with many saying that it was a positive move, and some pointing out that it represented an fantastic opportunity to communicate directly with their customers.

• Speakers Simon Martin – QV Foods & Liz Bowles – EFFP.

First up is Simon Martin Director of QV Foods.

Tweet: #Retailers up next & #Direct sourcing at #FPJWM conference #growers #in

Tweet: Simon Martin from QV Foods is our next speaker at #FPJWM #freshproduce

Simon explained the evolution of this family farming business and the diversification that had occurred over the past four or so years.

Tweet: QV Foods a family owned #farming biz #in #freshproduce #FPJWM

Simon very much advocates that we, as the Fresh Produce industry, need to improve our direct communications with our customer base.  Central to this was how we market our Fresh Produce in a passionate way that does justice to our fantastic British growers.

Tweet: How do we market #freshproduce in a passionate way that reflects our Fab UK #growers ? Thoughts #FPJWM

Simon explained some of the initiatives that QV Foods had run including Grower days and the development of local and regional hubs for the effective distribution of Fresh Produce to a more local potential group of customers.

Tweet: #local #freshproduce hubs #in & around not only WM but nationwide #FPJWM <– opportunities 4 WM thou

He was also quite scathing of some of the “Sales and Marketing” desks and their charges, citing one example of a grower being charged, apparently, some £200k for order processing in one year.

Tweet: QV Foods a Gr8 example of a #freshproduce biz & #grower who have gone #Direct 2 better understand the consumer #in #FPJWM

Another topic that Simon was quite passionate about was how we as the Fresh Produce industry entice and encourage the next generation to see Fresh Produce as a vibrant and compelling career choice.

Tweet: How do we attract young people #in 2 #freshproduce ? #FPJWM

One of the ways that Simon was advocating was the development of consumer focused products and brands within Fresh Produce.

Tweet: #Inspire range from QV Foods including @gregwallace British range of #freshproduce #FPJWM

Along with more consumer focus Simon urged the Fresh Produce industry to have a look at ourselves regarding continued sustainability within our trading environment as there are many opportunities to reduce cost and waste.

Tweet: #freshproduce industry environment next <– need 2 look at ourselves & what we do –> sustainability #in #FPJWM

To conclude Simon urged us as an industry to ensure that we grow want our consumers want us to grow.  He wanted us to really understand our consumers and produce consumer centric products to ensure the development and progression of our industry.

Tweet: #freshproduce needs 2 grow what the consumer wants as #growers #FPJWM

In this section next up was Liz Bowles from EFFP.

Tweet: Next up at #FPJWM is Liz Bowles from EFFP | Making the best of retail

Tweet: What is #EFFP #in #freshproduce ? #FPJWM

EFFP are European Food and Farming Partnerships (and not as I mistakenly thought at the beginning English Food and Farming Partnerships).

EFFP are a consultancy focussed upon the Supply Chain and are used as a Food and Agriculture interface between many stakeholders within Fresh Produce, such as Retailers, Processors, Suppliers, Growers and Farmers.

Anyhow back to the conference.

Tweet: Liz >> how our #retail customers R looking 4 product #innovation & empty shelves r not an option particularly #in #freshproduce #FPJWM

Liz made a very valid point that all the innovation in the world does not make up for empty shelves in the consumers mind, particularly for a service driven customer like a retailer, food service or food processor.

A concerning statistic that Liz gave regarding supply issues:

Tweet: Supply issues – declining UK production #in #veg #freshproduce #FPJWM

Which means this decline in UK production is being filled by other willing sources from outside of the UK our competitors.  Liz went on to say that we as nation are only producing half of our capability in top fruit (please note that in the Tweet below in relation to this point I do not use the term Top Fruit – as this is a Fresh Produce term).

Tweet: Did u know that only 25%-30% of apples & pears R #freshproduce ‘d #in the UK <– this cud B 50-60% #FPJWM

Some of the key issues that EFFP had voiced to them were that we have one of the most expensive supply chains in Europe.  The customer forecast of sales demand versus the actual programme and production, very rarely matched.  The lack of commitment from the customer base for crops and production mainly – so the lack of confidence in planting and growing Fresh Produce.  The poorly executed and run Producer Organisation (PO) scheme, it would appear that we have many small PO’s where as a country like Holland has a few larger ones.  Also commented on Intermediary Marketing businesses.

Liz noted that growers within Fresh Produce are calling for change and the Retailers are strong and are procuring effectively.  Liz also advocates (along with Simon) that the Fresh Produce sector needs a more strategic and collaborative approach.

Tweet: #growers #in #freshproduce do u know what the #fruitsandvegetables Aid Scheme is? #FPJWM

Liz went on to briefly discuss the Fruits and Vegetable Aid Scheme and question if the Fresh Produce grower base knew what it was.  She also noted that the PO uptake was low and that this represented a competitive disadvantage of between 2 or 3 pence for every £1.  There was also some feedback that we might, just might within Fresh Produce take our home market for granted, in so much that it will always be there.

Liz also remarked that a re-emphasis of more effective supply chain partnerships and a more collaborative approach of working to secure greater operational efficiencies were required.  On a final note that the Supply Chains of the future within Fresh Produce and Food would have to have:

• Scale.
• Sophistication.
• Critical Mass.

Tweet: #calltoaction: #growers #freshproduce #in future will need to have collaborative #supplychains #FPJWM

Topic – Exploring the Marketplace: niche to mainstream: from Niche crops using traditional outlets (like wholesale markets) & how to widen Fresh Produce sales.

• Speakers James Seymour & Simon Coles – HumberVHB (WOW! Micro Leaf), Andrew McLay – Promar International & Martin Levy – Fresh Direct.

Tweet: Next up at #FPJWM Exploring the Marketplace: niche 2 Mainstream by HumberVHB #freshproduce

A very lively presentation thankfully (as there was no coffee break in the afternoon sessions) by the “dynamic duo” of James and Simon.  After handing out some really fantastic samples of the WOW! Branded Micro leaves to the conference floor…they really were incredibly tasty and innovative Fresh Produce products.

Tweet: WOW! Partnership VHB & Westland nurseries joint venture 2 develop the growing of Micro herbs the UK #FPJWM #freshproduce

James stepped up and introduced the brand and the partnership.  WOW! Is the result of a perfect Fresh Produce partnership between the UK’s largest specialist grower of micro leaf and the country’s largest fresh produce herb supplier.  Westland Nurseries bring their expertise in production to VHB’s commercial, marketing and technical knowhow.

Tweet: What is Micro leaf – young version of salads / herbs / veg #freshproduce intense flavours #FPJWM

So what exactly is Micro leaf then – basically they are young versions of salad leaves or herbs.  They are exceptionally tender and in most cases, intensely flavoured and the WOW! Range is selected for their unique flavour or visual impact and colour.  The were initially targeted to the food service as an innovative ingredient and are now used by some of the top Michelin starred chefs in the UK.  The current customer split is 83% Food Service and 17% Processors.

At this point my Tweeter stream got really interesting with a number of food bloggers and specialist businesses wanting to ask questions of the WOW! Micro Leaf team.

A selection of the Tweet “traffic” and questions asked are below:

Tweet: RT @LondonFoodFinds: @GrowingDirect Love microleaves especially shiso <– have u got any Questions 4 the guys? #freshproduce #FPJWM

This was me responding to a business that had commented that they “Love” microleaves – I asked them if they had any questions for the WOW! Team.

Tweet: @LondonFoodFinds where do u buy your Micro leaves from? #FPJWM #freshproduce

This is me demonstrating the engagement aspect of Twitter / Social Media for the benefit of this blog – by asking an influential Twitter person (Susan is an expert buyer).

Tweet: RT @LondonFoodFinds: @GrowingDirect Where to buy them for home use? That would be great sorry got 2RT 4 #FPJWM #freshproduce

I had to RT (Re-Tweet) the London Food Finds Tweet because they didn’t use the #FPJWM tag.

This was nearing the end of the excellent presentation that WOW! were giving and just as they were saying that whilst they have some fantastic sales in food service, processing and wholesale markets they had not managed to get a listing with the Retailers.  The reason for this is that the Retailers do not believe the consumer was ready for a “sophisticated” or Niche product such as this.

The reason that Susan was asking was that as a Foodie she has been talking about this product a lot and many of her Foodie customers and friends wanted to know which retailers stock this product range.

So as the WOW! Presentation wrapped up and the audience at the conference were asked if they had any questions…I of course put my hand up to ask on behalf of the Consumer: Where can you buy these products for home use?

The answer is in my Tweet below:

Tweet: @LondonFoodFinds hi Susan u can buy them under the brand WOW! #in Wholefoods #FPJWM #freshproduce thks 4 the question

This proved to be just the beginning of a stream of engaging questions between a producer and the consumer.  Oh and I also believe a small demonstration of how Social Media can get you the direct and I mean really direct links to a potential consumer and market.

Next up was Andrew McLay from Promar International.

Tweet: Andrew McLay from Promar International is speaking now at #FPJWM #freshproduce

Andrew spoke very much from an academic perspective and posed the question of the audience regarding traditional Strategy planning and how this was achieved by using past experience based around forecasting.

He introduced an interesting and different take on Strategy development around a tool called the “Scenario Plan” or “Scenario Thinking”.

Tweet: Whoooo *Scenario Thinking* 4 #freshproduce #FPJWM <– basically looking at how the future MIGHT look #growers 4 options coming up…. #in

Essentially what Andrew outlined was strategically planning based upon how the future might look, rather than using historic data to forecast.

He went on to describe four of the keys to the Scenario Plan:

Tweet: Option 1: Slow Recovery…..or more of the same #FPJWM

This is essentially doing the same or the market being the same as before with no major changes, so the development and growth opportunities remain small.

Tweet: Option 2: Big is Best #FPJWM basically very large scale #freshproduce

This is where a market becomes very large scale and the customer is very sophisticated and volume driven, so scale economies are necessary for survival.

Tweet: Option 3: New Food Order very local food market #FPJWM #freshproduce

This is driven by local and sustainable production capacity and the re-introduction of seasonality.

Tweet: And the 4th one is Crisis….<–post modern Food industry scenarios #FPJWM #freshproduce

Andrew then went on to discuss the product market options around customer Value propositions:

1.    Product Leadership.

2.    Lowest Cost.

3.    Customer Lock-In.

4.    Customer Intimacy.

He suggested that the most successful businesses are those who develop a customer intimacy and really understand fully the product they produce and are incredibly market focused.  Andrew summed up by saying that you as a Fresh Produce business needed to excel at one of the four.

Lastly but my no means least is Martin Levy Head of the Gourmet team at Fresh Direct.

Tweet: Fresh Direct now up #in the form of Martin Levy #FPJWM #freshproduce

Fresh Direct provide the fresh produce ingredients of between 1.5 and 2 million meals per day – I wonder how they know that.  They do a lot of work with the Jamie Oliver chain of restaurants and go on many overseas supplier visits with Jamie Oliver.  Martin did explain the separate divisions of the Fresh Direct business and it was interesting to hear about their Roots division.  This was along with the Gourmet division and the sourcing and procurement that they have to undertake in order to serve their customer base.

Tweet: BTW Roots was the brain child of Rick Sanderson #FPJWM #freshproduce

Topic – Making the Supply Chain Work: Open Debate with FPJ Editor Michael Barker.

The top table was made up of: David Shepherd (Evesham Value Growers), Mark Horton (Wealmoor), Andrew McLay (Promar) Martin Levy (Fresh Direct), Liz Bowles (EFFP).

Tweet: Making the Supply Chain work #FPJWM #freshproduce is next up #in here

Direct sourcing appeared to be a consistently re-occurring theme with the panel agreeing that it will continue.  Some commented that “middle-men” will have to prove they can add value.

Tweet: So any final #freshproduce questions 4 the panel #FPJWM #in #growers #chefs #foodies #Retailers #foodservice

There was also the view that we are still a very fragmented industry with many growers, producers and suppliers within Fresh Produce not trusting each other.

Tweet: How difficult is it 4 a #freshproduce biz 2 export UK grown products? #FPJWM

A really great discussion and debate ensued regarding our opportunities as a Fresh Produce business to export our British grown products.

And so the conference closed.

Tweet: Thanks 2 all those who helped me by RT the #FPJWM conference & 2 those of u who asked questions | my 1st go at this 4 #freshproduce

• 8 further Tweets under the #FPJWM since the event – including those from Fresh Convenience Magazine, Redfox, Disa_Farm
• Plus at least one great new customer contact made to a Fresh Produce grower by a buyer directly from Twitter.

This event was not only covered within the UK, but also worldwide via the # (hash tag) freshproduce.  So a local event Nationally and Internationally – who said Twitter doesn’t work!

Tweet: #FPJWM Thanks to @GrowingDirect for keeping everyone up to date with the FPJ Conferences – West Midlands event. Good day had by all I think!

In summary a well organised event and something that I would definitely go to again.  I was a little disappointed with the lack (again) of actual growers in attendance. But mostly great speakers and interesting views and exchanges occurred.  Well done to the FPJ team and to Liz O’Keefe for organising it and for the great choice of the venue.

Please feel free to add your own comments in the comments box below and also please feel free to Tweet our Blog link by pressing the Tweet button.  You will also find this blog replicated on the weekly RedFox Newsletter.  Finally a huge thank you for getting to this point…I hope it was interesting and insightful, all the best Carol

The interview appears in the FPJ (Fresh Produce Journal) on 5th November 2010, under the “New Businesses” section (pages 26, 27 & 28)….if you were wondering we are on page 28, last 4 paragraphs!

Growing Direct 1st FPJ Interview

I do feel really honoured to be included as we are still only 5 months old as a business…and have been on the most incredible and amazing journey.  So a big thank you to the FPJ the Fresh Produce industry’s weekly newspaper since 1895.

I hope you enjoy the piece, even if you don’t read it all and just our little bit.

As always your thoughts and feedback are welcomed in our comments section.

Well I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to be blogging about a competition, not any old competition but one that Growing Direct has been inspired to run…how has this happened I hear you murmur!

Really quite simply, I met at 4Networking Stratford-upon-Avon a really lovely lady whose business sells promotional gifts and items, which got us thinking that it would be kind of nice to say thank you to our new Clients for their business.

So we tasked Jody from Chilli Promotional products (yes I know I was a sucker for the name, being in the Fresh Produce game and all) – to supply us with a beautiful quality Notebook (as diary’s are so last year, don’t you think)?

Jody being an expert in providing her clients with high quality solutions to their business needs came up with Growing Directs delightful Green notebooks bound in high quality leather with a fabulous pen.  Confession time – we love Stationery here at GD HQ!

Right onto the competition element – we’ve has such positive feedback from our fans on both Facebook and Twitter about our Notebooks, that we thought why not reward one of our amazing fans with an “exclusive” Growing Direct Fresh Produce Notebook?

Another confession at this point, one of GD’s Twitter friends is also running a competition, the format of which I’ve used here; he goes by the name @bigspud, in his you can win a Heston Blumenthal Oven Thermometer! What a great idea…

Well we thought if it’s good enough for Heston’s fans then it is certainly good enough for our lovely Growing Direct fans!

Finally I hear you cry how do I win one of Growing Directs fabulous Fresh Produce Notebooks?  To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below answering the following question:

What is your favourite Fresh Produce item (a Fruit, Vegetable or Salad) and why?

• The closing date for the competition is 10pm 31^st October 2010.
• Comments posted after this time won’t be counted.
• I’ll pick a winner at random using the tried and tested Hat method.
• Entrants must be 18 years or older.
• If the winner has not replied within two weeks, someone else will get it.
• Only people from the UK please, and I will only post to a UK address.

Finally good luck….

This month’s instalment comes from Carol Ford who started her career working for Sainsbury’s in various buying roles from junior through to middle manager. She has extensive Fresh Food experience from working in dynamic and performance driven environments (FMCG).  You can find out more about me here on this link…

More about me (Carol) here

Here’s what Making Business Matter asked….

1. What could a retailer do to get cheaper prices from you or better value?

2. What 3 things could retailers do to get more from their suppliers?

3. What are your thoughts on tenders?

4. What frustrates you about dealing with retailers?

5. Do you get value and recognition for the level of category management/development you do and why?

6. What has been you biggest success and what allowed it to happen?

7. What has been your biggest non-success and what did you learn from it?

8. What does a great working relation with a retailer look like and why?

Here are my answers…Click here to download the PDF

And if you would like to ask me any additional questions? Please just click here…I would be really interested in your views and opinions.

Click here: add your question and contact details

I was fortunate enough to find out about a Relay for Life event that was occurring on 28^th and 29^th August 2010 in aid of Cancer Research UK.

An old school friend has been battling Cancer for the past 6 years when a chance encounter between him and another old school friend whilst in hospital put in place a sequence of events that led me to join them last weekend for this 24-hour walk.

A group of ex-Woodlands School (Basildon, Essex) pupils from the leaving year 1985 (the year below me) put together a team called the Woodlands Walkers for this event in honour of our brave school friend Ian Harding.

From a standing start of nothing, and just some ideas, it took barely one month to get us all organised to the point whereby there were 16 of us in the team and a target fundraising amount to raise of £2,000.

The event was held at New Hall School, Chelmsford, Essex – a wonderful location for a wonderful event, so what did we have to do?  Quite simply we had to ensure that one of our team was on the running track at any point in time during the course of the 24 hours…and raise as much money as we could.

So under the guidance and organisational skills of Mr Morris, we all duly turned up by 10am on Saturday (28^th Aug) with our tents, camping equipment and plenty of warm clothing and big smiles!  Banners were made to promote our team, by the children of those taking part.  Supermarket runs were undertaken to ensure we had food and drinks – some were even non-alcoholic!

At 12 Noon the event began with the Survivors walk and lap of honour, I happened to be getting supplies from the local supermarket at this point!  But we all walked, we took it in turns to man the event facilities, like the BBQ and coffee and tea.  There were local groups who gave lessons in dancing, Martial arts, Pilates, Line Dancing to name but a few.  The weather was reasonably good to us, with the exception of a light shower, but we were rewarded with a fantastic rainbow.

Spirits remained high and we did laugh at some of the antics, particularly of those who had come in fancy dress, like Marilyn Monroe and Superman.  As night was drawing in there was a charity auction, with prizes such as a bikini & mankini car wash, signed footballs, etc.

Then probably the most moving part of the day…the candlelight ceremony, which starts with loads of paper bags filled with tea-lights. These are put out around the running track and people who know and love either someone they have lost or someone who is a survivor of Cancer write their thoughts and love on the bags with photos of the person.  There were a couple of beautiful songs sung, a poem and a minute’s silence, broken by a lone piper as the lights on the running track are turned off.

We then followed the piper around the track with just the tea-lights flickering away on a clear evening, everyone stopping now and then to look at the words and names of those affected by Cancer.  There were many tears, some sad, some happy, but also scarred tears…and tears of hope mingled with the loss caused by this disease.  It was so moving, children clinging to parents who have the disease, grandparents who had passed on alongside many who have survived….and leading our team, strong, silent, supportive and caring was our Hero Ian Harding….

As we broke into our own thoughts this momentous lap finished and we continued to walk, on and on, through the later part of the evening, with a disco and karaoke to keep us entertained…we even had time to do a little dancing as well.

The different team members were snatching what sleep they could get at various points through the early hours, and even taking part in a little impromptu football in the middle of the running track…and on we walked, or ran to stay warm, but keep going we did.

As dawn broke on Sunday morning, we were still walking…but were rewarded with a beautiful clear and crisp day… And so the hours diminished and we reached the last lap, all extremely exhausted but happy with what we had achieved.

The morning also brought another auction, but this time of waxing for one “lucky” volunteer, Mr Morris, £5 a strip of wax, all in a great cause…

So to bring this wonderful, but much shortened version of this story, from my perspective, to a close….Woodlands Walkers managed to not only beat but SMASH our initial target of £2,000, by raising (so far), just over:

£9,100 (and still counting)!

We have now formed a Facebook Group, Woodlands Walkers 2010 and Beyond!!!!!  As this is the beginning and NOT the end!

A great presentation by Brainmates on “What is Product Management” – an understanding of the process of product management is essential in launching, managing and ensuring that you are producing the right product for the user or consumer.  Product Management is a key and vital role within this process and this presentation by Brainmates uses some simple and straightforward frameworks in order to better understand the role.

Interesting promotional activity as reported in Fresh Info News (the website of the Fresh Produce Journal) – titled Le Crunch teaches schools a lesson http://bit.ly/9JRiNS .  I think it is fantastic that both Le Crunch and The Co-operative have created this great link into 5,000 UK schools.

I wholeheartedly support ideas such as this as we should be teaching our children about fresh produce and foods; very nice linking the campaign to Apple iPod Touches as well as Apple iMac for their schools. 

But it has left me wondering about the exciting campaigns that UK growers and producers will be doing this year with schools in promoting Fresh Produce.  We have some great fresh produce groups around the country supporting one category or another within the industry. 

Le Cruch and The Co-operative have recognised the importance of engaging the younger consumer at an early stage, and to do it in a fun and exciting way…which youngster wouldn’t want to win an Apple i-anything?  What an inspirational way to make Fresh produce and in particular Apples and the much maligned Pear relevant, now and to appear happening? 

What are you doing to support Fresh Produce or the category you grow for…what exciting and engaging activities are you looking to do this year, or next?  Let us know at Growing Direct Ltd http://www.growingdirect.org/contact.html and we would be happy to support you via our Social Media networks (via Twitter, Slideshare or our Blog). 

Ideas, thoughts and comments are as always welcome.

The question posed quite simply stated “Without genetically modified foods, can the world feed itself?”  The Environmental Journalist of the Year, Richard Girling, argued “that GM crops are good for people and good for the planet”.

I’m not a scientist but am passionate about our ability as not only a nation but also a global community to feed ourselves now and in the coming years.  I really believe that we have to find ways of not just producing more, but producing more in a more environmentally sustainable way – in my simple view yields and production have to go up, significantly, in the coming years.

A startling fact that I’ve heard and read about this year is that by mid-century we (you, me, and everyone) will be part of a projected 9 billion global population!  We as the Earth will need 50% more food, and already 1 billion people go hungry every day.  As Richard Girling argues “…and it will have to grow in an increasingly difficult, drought-prone environment”.

How are we to achieve this unless there is a coming together of the different systems of food production in a sustainable way?  I find it interesting that the three main production bodies for food, namely Conventional, Organic and GM – sit at opposite ends of the production Triangle.

Has the time not come for all three to champion and support the principles of feeding the world in a way that ensures that no-one person goes hungry?  But most importantly, it is achieved in a way that is environmentally beneficial to the land and the environment?  Could these three incredibly important bodies, together, provide the solution?

What are your thoughts to this interesting debate, how do you view the need to feed the World in a different way?  I would really welcome your thoughts, comments and views please feel free to leave them here.

Interestingly, the Fresh Produce industry is “traditionally” male dominated in the critical people sectors, growers and suppliers, and the lack of Social media/networking interaction has taken me by surprise.  Even to the point of really outdated websites, limited contact us information, most of which is actually out of date.  Where there is limited Social activity I have found that this is generally being driven by the female persuasion.

Initially I thought that the lack of social media interaction, within Fresh Produce, was driven by a lack of understanding about the platform of blogging, tweeting, facebooking and the like.  So more of a generational gap than anything else; in my original blog I ask the question of how, we as an industry are to engage the next generation if we don’t communicate in the same way as them.  This is a particularly worrying trend for our industry if we don’t link with our consumers, entrepreneurs and employees of the future.

Having read the Mowgli Foundation blog about gender I’m really beginning to question my original thoughts and assumptions.  Is Social media and networking a younger generation’s platform? Are women more inclined to network this way versus their male counter-parts?  To my mind whatever the answer the Social platform utilising the web is here to stay and is gathering momentum and I for one intend to be at the forefront, certainly within the Fresh Produce industry, which I just happen to love.

I would really welcome your views, comments, thoughts and feedback.

As a passionate advocate of the Fresh Produce industry I am concerned at what appears to be the lack of engagement with the next generation. Having worked in this fantastic industry for more years than I care to remember and also being new to Social Media I am quite taken aback at what appears to be the lack of understanding of how to converse and publicise our industry with the younger generation.

My question really centres upon how we attract this younger generation to see fresh produce as a fantastic career choice?  How do we go about creating a real buzz about fresh produce but also around how we, as an industry, promote our sector to them as future consumers.

Whilst many within Fresh Produce dismiss Social Media as a fad or uninteresting to the day job, the younger generation are really embracing it.  How many of your children are on Facebook for example, and importantly how often do they use it?

I believe there is a great opportunity to really embrace Social Media as an instrument of change and critically dialogue with this new generation.  Can we as an industry utilise this fantastic new medium to change perceptions and encourage more participation from younger members of our society?

At Growing Direct we passionately believe in Fresh Produce; but having now seen the power of Social Media and its easy accessibility also believe there is a real opportunity to promote the industry in ways not thought possible before.

We would really be interested to hear your points of view and stories about this topic and welcome your feedback and comments.

For me it has been a very positive and refreshing approach as well as an invaluable tool to network, connect and generally discuss issues or successes.  Whilst I think that chatting face-to-face or on the phone is one way to network,  social media sites are also a new way to extend and develop a network of contacts.  For Growing Direct it has thrown open new avenues and ideas, that perhaps we would never have discovered using more traditional methods.

Like anything a little bit of curiosity led me to this “new world”, and I have discovered some great contacts and had some great discussions…I’ve “met” people and organisations that I would not normally have encountered.  What is your experience since using this medium, do you use Social Media, feel free to add your own comments and thoughts.

Social Media has also been a great journey of learning…so, if you are curious, give it a go – there might be a new opportunity, or new contact that will add something invaluable, somewhere out there…!

Workers of British jobs in fresh produce could take pride in the claim made by Daily Mail writer Vincent Graff in an article about his experience of harvesting the crop in Sand Hutton, a region near York.

He recalled how Gregg Wallace, who now appears on Masterchef, told him ten years ago that the best asparagus could be found in England when in season.

The chef had explained that exported Peruvian asparagus is chosen for how well it will travel, rather than how good it tastes.

He also noted that the fresh produce from England would be younger than goods flown in from overseas.

Mr Graff reported how, prompted by an asparagus farmer on the field, he had tried a piece of the fresh produce raw and was delighted by its “clean, sweet taste”.

Asparagus is now in season in the country. British Asparagus says that it is a good source of folic acid for pregnant women and can help to fight cancer.

Working for marketing desks whereby you are generally tasked with getting the biggest share of the order, the competitive battles are immense.  This is particularly true when one desk is played off against another – neither wants to lose.  The impact of this “industry rivalry” is usually felt and felt quite keenly I would say, by the grower and producer.  I also wonder what part ego plays within Categories during these negotiations, and the drive or ambition to be seen to be the largest supplier within a sector or customer? 

Having worked for a number of fresh produce marketing desks in supplying many and varying customers I’ve developed the idea of No / But.  Nobody, least of all customers, like No…..but when used in conjunction with the But concept of an alternative of what can be achieved it develops the idea of wanting to help.  The concept is quite simple; when challenged to drop a price for either a promotion or because supplier “x” has, ask the question of your business “is this the right time to for us to be doing this?”.  If it’s not then the answer has to be no, however, a further question then should then be asked “what could we do and when?”.  This demonstrates a willingness to understand the promoting activities and the needs of the customer, whilst allowing the dreaded no word to be uttered.  Your business is yours just as the customer’s is theirs, the customer chooses what works for them, and equally you have the right to choose what works for you.  A promotion in store does not mean a promotion at that particular time in production.

The idea above is not an easy one for “fear” of losing business, and believe me does not always work.  However, there have been many a time when it does work; meaning sustainability has a chance to thrive.  Inevitably by allowing the thought process to occur in the first place achieves alternative and mutually successful promotions for both.

Mowgli is all about giving something back and I decided that I would introduce this concept to the industry I love best, Fresh produce.

I realised that the skills, experience and knowledge, which I have acquired and used for other suppliers and marketing desks, during 20 odd years of employment could be given back to producers and growers.

So Growing Direct was conceived!

Growing Direct will give growers and producers the opportunity to Go Direct to their customers.  I will use my commercial business knowledge coupled with the concepts of how to coach and mentor, gained during my time with Mowgli, to achieve these aims.

Timing has been fortunate because there is a fresh appetite within the industry to discover and reconnect with many growers and producers rather than adhere to the chosen few.

So what started as a journey with Mowgli has led to a life re-assessment and an ignition of a passion to reconnect growers and producers with their customers.

I hope you will join me on my journey, one I am eager to share with the growing and producing community within the Fresh Produce industry.