From fork to farm
Vintners have done it for years. Cheese makers, too. Think Champagne or Roquefort cheese and you automatically think of France. Beef from Alberta. Salmon from BC.
Building a brand for regionally-produced food helps move a mainstream commodity to a high-end product. Prince Edward Island farmers and harvesters have joined forces with FoodTrust, a not-for-profit organization designed to develop a brand identity for PEI-produced foods and perhaps others in the future.
But the initiative goes beyond brand building, to promote production within a system that consumers will trust. The goal of the FoodTrust is to reward producers for marketing high-quality food items produced from sustainable systems.
Check out your local A&P or Dominion store to see the results of one of the FoodTrust’s first successes – Fresh Obsession potatoes. Launched in 2003 at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, after three years of research by the FoodTrust and the Culinary Institute of Canada, Fresh Obsession successfully elevated the simple spud to a specialty product.
This marketing campaign sees potatoes prominently displayed in custom-built cooler cabinets, divided into bins that clearly match potato variety with cooking technique – boiled, mashed, baked or roasted. Bins and handy tote bags are colour-coded to keep it simple. The display even includes potatoes in a plastic steam jacket for microwaving to create uniform heating.
RECONNECT CONSUMERS TO PRODUCERS
Barry Cudmore is the chair of the FoodTrust and a potato farmer near Brackley Beach, PEI. He talks about the three ‘seeks’ of the FoodTrust. “First, we seek to reconnect consumers to producers,” says Cudmore. “Most people today don’t relate to anything past the retailer and we want to reconnect our consumers to where their food comes from. We need to get the consumer pull – from fork to farm – rather than the other way around. We recognized early in the game that if we didn’t do something unique and significant for the consumer, it was just talk. The word trust came up because people have trusted PEIslanders to grow and harvest food that nurtures the body and soul.”
The second ‘seek’ – the FoodTrust seeks to produce high quality products from sustainable systems – environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible. And the third ‘seek’ – the FoodTrust seeks to allow everyone to reap the rewards of the consumer dollar. “Everyone should receive their fair share – producer, packer, trucker, wholesaler and retailer,” says Cudmore. “It’s a challenge because no one wants to split the pie into smaller pieces. Our efforts will create a larger pie.”
The potato-merchandising unit is a good example of growing the pie. It provides consumers with information they didn’t have before and FoodTrust research suggests they’re willing to pay for it.
Prior to the potato launch, FoodTrust did a local launch of Summerside Farms Pork, produced by a number of farmers on small, family-owned farms that follow responsible feeding, environmental and safety standards. A unique feeding program results in higher polyunsaturates, so it’s good for you too. The Summerside Farms Pork standards include all-natural feed, excluding meat or bone meal and other best management practices to produce high quality moist and tender pork.
THE VALUE OF BRANDS
Today there are a growing number of FoodTrust growers and harvesters who share the vision that growing well is a way of life. The FoodTrust acts as a guiding body for the development and implemen-tation of the FoodTrust brand. Led by a board of directors from PEI’s agriculture, fisheries, processing and tourism sectors, the FoodTrust establishes and monitors sustainable growing standards, certifies growers who meet those standards and links them with distribution, retail and other new market opportunities.
“Our brand speaks to the values of Prince Edward Islanders,” says Cudmore. “One of the reasons we have a million tourists visit each year is they want to participate in our values. We like to think they come the first time for the scenery but they come back because of the people they meet.”
The FoodTrust logo can be found on a growing number of foods from Prince Edward Island. And the selection will continue to expand. A&P stores have exclusive rights for FoodTrust products in Ontario and other groups across North America have also expressed interest. “We’re looking at other opportunities such as mussels, other vegetables such as carrots and we’ve produced a spice called Potato Pizzazz which we’ve launched with A&P,” says Cudmore. “A number of specialty items are in the works and will probably include jams and jellies.”
While this group clearly understands marketing, the value of FoodTrust products goes well beyond gimmicks. All growers cooperate with third party validators so they can prove they do what they say they do. That means compliance with best management practices such as integrated pest management programs, meeting current standards and guidelines for food safety and adherence to environmental farm plans.
|
