Marketing Forum Presents Pennsylvania Pride Potential (ConHnuwi from Pag* A 1) The thnul of the presentations was that it may be advantageous for the many different production sectors to begin deliberately join ing faces for sane marketing promotion under one roof the Pennsylvania FHde theme. The afternoon session included break-out groups and discussions, and, while no consensus was reached, those representing the different groups seemd to agree that such a strategy could benefit demand and respect for Pennsylvania-grown products. The forum was opened by Wil liam Traxell, chairman of the Pen nsylvania Commodity Roundt able. and state Secretary of Agri culture Charles Brosius. Three speakers highlighted the day: Arthur Brown, New Jersey secretary of agriculture; Dr. John Lord, chairman of the St Joseph’s University Marketing Depart ment; and Gordon Montgomery, vice president of client services, with the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. The remainder of the meeting consisted of an overview of some of the Bureau’s activities by Wil liam Mathias, its director, and die different discussions. hi his presentation. New Jersey Ag Secretary Brown discussed the “Jersey Fresh” program that the agriculture department there has helped support through financial cost-sharing and purchase of tele vision commerciitis. He said that three 30-second commercial were produced and aired from April through Novem ber last year that promoted die state’s horticultural products under the slogan, “What a difference Jersey Fresh makes.” Commercials not only hit the New Jersey audience, but was aired in every state in the nation, as well as being aired abroad, some not intentional. He said that people in Spain and Australia have seen it. as well as 46 million homes in the United States and Canada. Radio commercials were pro duced in both English and Spanish. Banners were placed on the back of busses. t' % < s v • S V \ Lr What helps, he said, is providing information on each commodity, so that consumers know how to select, how to store, and how to prepare the different commodities. Such information was provided for five commodities last year, and five mote are planned this year. Matching funds were provided by the department to the commodi ty groups, and of $150,000 in seed matey, the commodity groups came up with enough to provide $500,000, which represents a more than doubling of private matching funds. . Last year was the first for the Jersey Fresh quality logo, but it was also the fourth year of the Jersey Fresh sampling program, hi the sampling program, the New Jersey Agriculture Society pro vided samples of New Jersey com modities and targeted the non-farm public. In-store programs provided samples of such things as blueber ries, peaches, apples and zuchinni, and last year an estimated 80,000 consumers received direct contact Brown said the program tries to utilize promotion royalty at the Jersey Fresh promotion programs. He said die different promotion queens (etc.) are good representa tives. ‘lt’s good them (die royalty), and it’s good fa (the commodity groups).” Brown said the program emphasizes the importance of chain stores to reach the audiences, and road side markets and stands are also very active in the promo tion program. The Jersey Fresh program works differently than what cur rently happens in Pennsylvania. While the Pennsylvania Pride logo has been around fa a couple of years, it doesn’t serve as a focal point fa a consumer to go to and find out about Pennsylvania’s commodities. Instead, Pennsylvania has a range of commodity groups that generally work independendy. If Pennsylvania were to adopt a “Jersey Fresh” type of promotion program, just as an example, Pen nsylvania asparagus could be linked with Pennsylvania rainbow 0.. From the left, state Secretary of Agriculture Charles Broslus and state Sen. Dan Delp, chairman of the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee, welcome New Jersey Ag Secretary Arthur Brown as a speaker at a commodity marketing forum. trout and in-state grown new pota toes. and perhaps an in-slate com plimentary wine, to form a spring time promotion under the Pennsyl vania Pride logo and serve all four commodity groups equally well and at die same time. Further, it is presumed that the consumer would be better edu cated and retain that knowledge about the range, the uses, and die quality of Pennsylvania-produced products. Brown said that while ‘T”-shirts, hats and buttons with the Jersey Fresh logo have been produced, some of the roadside stands owners have produced their own, because there weren’t enough fa demand. The Jersey Fresh has also been used by pick-your-own farms, orchards and wineries. He said die New Jersey Turn pike roadside markets (it took 14 years to get that approved, while in Pennsylvania State Rep. Shelia Miller promoted the successful program) also participate and the turnpike gets 30,000 people per day past two sites last year. There another 30 a so produc ers involved in tailgate sales. One afV ; Don't Use MUN test services to '<v * f > ' site: http:Zwww.dhla. psu.edu Lane-tor Fanning, Saturday, March 29, 19Q7-A2f of the problems they are exper iencing is not that the demand isn’t there fa the produce, but that there aren’t enough fanners to partici pate in the markets. “However, I know one farm that hai seven trucks to send out to markets,” Brown said. Brown said that it is felt that there is still a la of market activity in which die program can be involved, but that consumer awareness of the New Jersey Fresh symbol and developing a prefer ence fa it are the bottom line goal of the entire program. One of the things Brown stressed is how producers treat the markets and marketing undo* the Jersey Fresh program the qual ity must be there. It can’t be second rate stuff a it will be self defeating. And to that end, he said all pro ducers who market with the Jersey Fresh logo have to be adamant in ensuring that only the best produce is sold that way. A lack of uniform quality can destroy the integrity of the program and consumer confidence. “They (the consumers) don’t remember all the perfect ones, just lay the one bad one,” Brown said. He said that while the depart ment spends a lot of time with the supermarkets, they also police diem well too, to ensure that some quick-buck unethical practices are not conducted that could besmirch the Jersey Fresh name. “You have to work with the pro duce manager. Years ago a pro duce manager was a career. Now it’s not.” he said, adding that mod em supermarkets combine manag ing produce in with other job requirements. “But you still have some (mana gers) out there who are very good at it” There’s also a quality assurance program associated and it gets enforced. A committee goes over the grading standards, and some want higher standards than what the U.S. Department of Agricul ture has set (which Brown said is not very high). There are field inspectors spot check to make sure everyone marketing under the Jersey Fresh program living up to the standards. The state also saw fit to provide $8 million in an economic deve lopment program grant of which $6 million went to farmers to increase efficiencies on the farm to enhance their competitiveness. Money was also sent directly to a coopera tive under the Business Incentive Program (BIG) to improve facilities. The largest single grant under that was $lOO,OOO, but it enabled to help make a certain cooperative be able to “ship with the best of them,’* Brown said. He said all the money, except for the matching funds, came from the New Jersey Legislature. $1.2 million of that came from state funds. He said that because New Jersey producers grow 100 different fruits and vegetables they don’t individually have a lot of money, but under the program, the consumers can leant what is local and how high the quality is. In another presentation. Dr. John Lord talked about what research there has found about consumer trends and demands and how that might correlate into marketing opportunities. He said the primary focus of the University Food Marketing Department is processed foods, not agriculture, but it received an (Turn to Paga A3O)
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