DB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 12,1981
Don’t sell promotion short
Is it worth the investment to try
to convince consumers to eat
certain food items?
Obviously, the big food com
panies like General Foods and
Standard Brands are sure that
they can spend big bucks and get
consumers to buy almost any food
product. But can farmers’
associations and commodity
groups do anything about con
sumer acceptance of their farm
products? Some folks are betting
that they can.
Dairy farmers are putting
money into a national effort to
convince consumers that milk is a
nutritious, wholesome product well
worth the price. They’re not trying
to sell brands, just the idea of
drinking milk. Any brand. Any
they’re competing with Coca Cola,
Pepsi Cola, and Seven-Up in the
Grow
Rabbits. Quail.
Pheasant. Racoons.
Chickens. Turkeys.
Guinea Pigs. Any
small animal. Right
in your own
backyard!
Put a little bit of country in your
life. Experience the fascination
and fun of raising small animals in
your own backyard. Natural
education for kids, profitable
hobby for adults. Tb get started
visit the 1100 square foot Favorite
Factory Showroom. Everything
you need for successful small
animal raising. Full line of pre
fabricated, all-metal Lifestyle
enclosures. Watering systems.
Feeders. 100 foot rolls of welded
Farm
Talk
Jerry Webb
soft-drink market. A current
slogan says, “Milk, It’s the Soft,
Soft Drink.”
In Ontario, Canada, the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food is spen
ding lots of money promoting
Ontario farm products. I picked up
some of their literature recently
while attending a meeting up
there. Those folks are reaching
Ontario consumers in a variety of
ways through their Foodland
Ontario promotion and the ac
companying slogan, “Good Things
Grow In Ontario.”
The whole canlpaign is pitched
at one simple point-encouraging
Ontario consumers to eat Ontario
grown farm produce. The ministry
isn’t.wasting any money chasing
after the export market or trying
to get its produce shipped into
other provinces. It simply wants
wire mesh. Complete modular
rabbit raising systems. All at
direct-to-you low prices. Stop in
today and save!
Favorite Manufacturing, Inc.,
114-116 Eartand industrial Park.
Building #l. Just East of New
Holland off Route 23. Phone
(717) 354-4586.
Open weekdays; 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Fridays; 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Saturdays: 7:30 AMtOII;3OAM
the home folks to eat home-grown
food.
Here’s how the ministry spells
out the problem:
“Canada produces a wealth of
food products, and can produce
even more. In spite of this, we
continue to unport more and more
food.
“Since 1971, the volume of food
imports into Canada has increased
by 90 percent. And over 50 percent
of our imports are products which
can be produced in Canada.
“These imports are frequently
more costly than our own products.
They also are a threat to Canadian
employment. The Canadian Food
Processors Association has
estimated that imported processed
fruit and vegetables alone cost
Canada more than million
man-hours of Canadian labor. This
amounts to a wage loss of close to
65 million dollars.”
With that as the basis, the
ministry set out to do something
about it. Ontario is Canada’s
largest agricultural producer, and
thus the area that would be hurt
most by imported foods.
All they’re ashing Ontario
consumers to do is to buy Ontario
products whenever possible. To
encourage this, a variety of
campaigns have been mounted
under the overall banner of the
Foodland Ontario program.
The Foodland Ontario symbol
and the slogan “Good Things Grow
In Ontario” were developed to
identify Ontario food products.
And according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food literature,
they are increasingly seen on retail
food store price cards and shelf
strips And they appear more and
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more on packaging and on con-
sumer information material from
many Ontario producers,
processors and retailers.
Along with this, Foodland On
tario has mounted an extensive
advertising campaign to promote
the symbol and a wide range of
Ontario-grown food products.
The campaign has two basic
messages. First to make people
aware of the wide variety of top
quality food products available in
Ontario, and secondly, to remind
consumers that buying Ontario
. food products is important in
keeping the province’s economy
strong. To do this, Foodland On
tario uses television, newspapers,
billboards, transit and mall
posters, and almost anything else
that will help tell the story.
The advertising effort is backed
up with a variety of other services,
including a program to reach the
important restaurant and in
stitutional market, a program to
help agricultural producer groups
with market development, and a
promotion and public relations
campaign that supplies the media
with information about production
and marketing and the use of
Ontario food products. That in
cludes recipes, photos and point-of
purchase material.
Since its inception, the Foodland
Ontario symbol and message has
become widely known. Market
research shows that nine out of ten
Ontario consumers support the
effort to encourage the purchase of
Ontario-produced foods. And sales
of Ontario agricultural products
have shown spectacular gams.
Another recent survey reveals that
more than half of all consumers
are aware of the Fbodland Ontario
symbol and what it means.
So what does all this mean for
local farmers and consumers?
Well, it seems to me good things
also grow around here, and a lot
more good things could grow if
there were good markets for them.
Maybe consumers could benefit
through a broader range of local
produce that would be fresher, of
higher quality, maybe even more
economical. Maybe it’s time for
some effective local promotion to
make sure residents are aware of
the local food products available to
them and 'are then able to go into
the stores and find those products
readily identifiable.
Fourteen years ago I suggested
the Delmarva Poultry industry
Association experiment with
marketing Delmarvalous chicken.
It was my contention that there
was an identifiable product there
that at least local consumers, if not
regional and national, could be
convinced to buy.
1 was told back then by industry
insiders that it wasn't a good idea.
That you couldn’t brand label
chickens and make- the effort
worthwhile.
Well, the Deimarvalous chicken
label never made the super
markets, but some others did. So
you can sell brand labeled chicken.
In fact, you can sell brand labeled
almost anything if it’s a good
product and. if it's properly
promoted.
So why not promote locally
grown food products so consumers
will know they’re getting local
produce?
Contact
Amos Gehman, Salesman
Seal Crete, Inc.
RD2, Ephrata, PA
717-859-1127