A 38-Uncaster Famine, Saturday, December 22,1984
Is it worth the investment to try
to convince consumers to eat
certain food items? Obviously, the
big food companies like General
Goods 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 brings, just the idea of
drinking milk.
In Ontario, Canada, the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food is spen
ding lots of money promoting
Ontario farm products. Those folks
are reaching Ontario consumers in
a variety of ways through their
Foodland Ontario promotion and
the accompanying slogan, “Good
Things Grow In Ontario.”
The whole campaign 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
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 import 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 are also a threat to Canadian
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Jerry Webb
employment. The Canadian Food
Processors Associations has
estimated that imported processed
fruit and vegetables alone cost
Canada more than 14% million
man-hours of Canadian labor. This
amounts to a wage loss of close to
65 million dollars.”
With that as a basis, the ministry
set out to do something about it,
because Ontario is Canada’s
largest agricultural producer, and
thus the area that would be hurt
most by imported foods.
All they’re asking 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
more on packaging and on con-
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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 to help
keep 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 10
Ontario women support the effort
to encourage the purchase of
Ontario produced foods. And sales
of Ontario agricultural products
have shown spectacular gains.
Another recent survey reveals that
more than half of all consumers
are aware of the Foodland Ontario
symbol and what it means.
So what does all of this mean for
Delmarva farmers and con
sumers? Well, it seems to me good
things also grown on Delmarva,
and a lot more good things could
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grow if there were good markets
for them. And maybe consumers
could benefit through a broader
range of local produce that would
be fresher, of higher quality,
maybe even more economical.
How about some effective local
promotion to make sure Delmarva
residents are aware of the local
food products available to them?.
Then they must be able to go into
the stores and find those products
readily identifiable.
More than 15 years ago, I
suggested that the Delmarva
Poultry Industry Association
experiment with marketing
Delmarvalous chicken. It was my
contention that there was an
identifiable product there and that
at least loc->l customers, if not
MMI gives equity refunds
STRONGSVILLE, Oh, - More
than $1.3 million of equity refunds
will be returned to the dairy far
mer members of Milk Marketing
Inc. (MMI) during the month of
December, according to Don
Schriver, director of membership
relations and public affairs for
MMI.
The board of directors has ap
proved the cash returns to the
members at the recently held
board meeting in Strongsville, OH,
home office location of MMI.
“With this refund for 1984 the
total redemption from MMI to its
members will be more than $l3
million smce MMI was organized
in 1978,” said Schriver.
The current redemption will be
to members and inactive former
members who had been with the
Central Ohio Cooperative Milk
Producers, MILK, Inc., Cincinnati
Cooperative Milk Sales
Association Inc., and Wayne
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regional and national, could be
convinced to buy home-grown
poultry. I 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 Delmarvalous chicken
label never made the super
markets, but some others did and
the concept has been proven
correct. 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 Delmarva
grown food products so at least
local consumers will know they’re
getting local produce?
Cooperative Milk Producers Inc.
under a plan developed before the
1978 merger. All equities with the
total value of over $lB million from
the predecessor cooperatives will
be redeemed by 1988, according to
Schriver.
“This is in line with board policy
to have a 10 year revolving plan for
member financing of the
cooperative. The ability to redeem
member equities is the result of
MMl’s commitment to keep the
ownership in the hands of the
users. Redemptions are paid 100
percent in cash," explained
Schriver.
MMI is a 9,000 member dairy
farmer owned cooperative en
compassing an eight state mid
western area including Ohio, In
diana, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
New York, Kentucky, Maryland
and West Virginia. Last year MMI
marketed more than 4.7 billion
pounds of milk.
P.O. Box 366, Lititz, PA 17543
Phone
717-626-1164 or 394-3047