PRODUCT INFORMATION AND MARKETING I recently read an editorial from a Purdue University professor about the way the bedding plant industry sells their products. In the article the author discus ses some factors about the market ing of bedding plants that I believe also apply to die marketing of our fruit and vegetable crops here in Lancaster County. Basically there are two types of products those that sell them selves and those that need to be sold. Let’s look at each of these ideas in relation to our crops. A good example of a product that sells itself is sweet com. Many consumers eagerly await the first ears of the season and in some cases will pay a premium price for them. This explains why sweet com acreage makes up the bulk of the total vegetable acreage in Pen nsylvania each year. As a marketer, you do not need to try to sell people sweet com but rather you only need to tell them when it is available and they will come to by it Many markets use the strong demand for sweet com to sell other products by placing the com in the back of the market Customers will possibly be inspired to purchase other items they see on the wa/ back to the sweet com and thus the total sale per customer is increased. Let TTcrshcv mKm bHh equipment co., inc. do the work! New expanded services from Hershey Equipment include feed mill construction and expansion. Let us do the work and design your storage and handling systems. We have our own experienced crews for service and installation. TT€RSH€V mtm EQUIPMENT CO., INC. SYCAMORE IND. PARK 255 PLANE TREE DRIVE LANCASTER, PA 17603 One important factor in the cus tomer’s desire for a product is quality. Even though there is a strong demand for sweet com, you will have few return customers if you sell poor quality cars. When in doubt about the quality of your product, perhaps you should con sider removing it from the shelves. Unfortunately, customers will remember one bad batch of com much longer than they will remem ber many good ones. With the development of newer com variet ies that hold their quality longer, you should be able to provide the high quality necessary to generate return sales. If your com has poor quality then you need to investigate where the quality is being lost Is it poor handling? Harvesting too early or late? Poor variety selection? Each of these factors can be examined and corrected. The second type of product one that needs to be sold is where I think many markets could increase sales. To continue using com as an example here would be to try to sell yellow sweet com in Lancaster County. The conven tional ‘thoughts on selling sweet com here is that a market can only sell white or bicolor com—people just aren’t interested in yellow sweet com. However, I know of at least two markets in the county that sell SO percent or more of their sweet com as yellow com. How? By taking (717)393-5807 some time to educate their custom ers. They told their customers about the new variety of yellow corn they were growing. They let them know what other customers have said about it One marketer would even put an ear of yellow com in the bag of white com customers were buying (at no charge) and tell the customer to tty it. Frequently, the customer would purchase yellow com upon their next visit to the market. The key here is to spend some time and educate your customers about the product Many people are curious about new fruits and vegetables but are reluctant to try them because of uncertainty. Humans are creatures of habit and, when in doubt we tend to stay with what we know Governor’s Conference On Delaware Agriculture Slated For February NEWARK, Del. Clear your calendar for Friday, Feb. 28. to at tend the third annual Governor’s Conference on Delaware Agricul ture at the Sheraton Inn in Dover. Beginning at7:lS a.m. with the Friends of Agriculture breakfast, the conference will center on the theme “Exploring Linkages in Agriculture, Environment and In ternational Trade.” Speakers at the event, which is organized by the University of Delaware’s department of food and resource economics and by Delaware Cooperative Extension, will include Gov. Tom Carper, Lt Gov. Ruth Ann Miner and Dr. Sherman Robinson, an interna tional trade expert Robinson is director for trade and macroeco nomics at the International Food Research Institute and a former senior economist on the Presi dent’s Council of Economic Ad visors. "The conference aims to high- If It's Worth Your Investment Trust It To Hershey Lancaatef Farming, Saturday, December 14, 199*011 about As a marketer you need to build upon the curiosity of people about a new variety by providing more information. Make them confident that it is worth the money to try the new product. If necessary, perhaps a small, free sample will be necessary for a short period of time while your customers become familiar with the new product. With the increasing appearance of variety names in the market place. you can educate people to ask 'for the variety you are growing or are selling. The increasing use of variety names in the market is, at least to me, going to be good for your marketing efforts. You can edu cate people about the excellent qualities of a particular variety of light the economic contributions of the agricultural sector to Dela ware’s economy, and to examine issues and policies impacting agri culture in Delaware,” said Dr. Tom Ilvento, cooperative exten sion specialist for economic de velopment at the University of Delaware and one of the organ izers of the event “The agricultural industry in Delaware will face unique chal lenges in the next century,” he said. “On one hand, consumers and community residents are de manding more assurances that our food is safe and the impact of agri culture on the environment is minimal. On the other, compe tition from foreign producers pre sents new challenges. With the ad vent of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), farmers and farm mar keters must understand their role yellow sweet com rather than just talking about yellow com. hi this way the customer will feel more confident that they will get the same high quality on their next vis it to your market because they will know to ask for a specific product The key for you, the marketer, is to have a continuous supply of quality produce for the buyer. You also need to be informed about the product you are promoting. No matter what type of produce you are trying to market you need to have the highest quality possi ble. When this high quality is com bined with some customer educa tion. I believe you can increase both produce sales and return sales. Ultimately, time spent with your customers is definitely time well spent in the global economy.” The conference will explore these issues with emphasis on the Delmarva poultry industry. A pan el of experts will speak on future trends, exports, and environment al and labor issues. Other topics will range from farmers’ attitudes toward land-use proposals to the impact of free trade agreements on agriculture. Time will be allotted for questions and discussions dur ing each session. Each year the conference has increased in size and scope. This year organizers are reaching out to more agricultural groups and en couraging producer participation. Registration information will be mailed out in early January. If you have questions or are inter ested in having a display at the conference, contact Dr. Bobby Gempesaw at (302) 831-1315 or Dr. Tom Ilvento at (302) 831-6773.
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