John Lord, St. Joseph University, far right, confers with James Dunn, Penn State, center, and conference attendee Eugene Wingert, St. Thomas, at the grazing and forage conference. Food Retailers React To Wal-Mart, Serve ‘Convenience’ Culture ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.) Food retailers see a grim future, in terms of results of investments only a 1 percent increase in food price and only 1 percent growth in population annually. This comes at a time when Wall Street stockholders want to see 8, 10, even 12-percent growth in business yearly, according to a pro fessor of food marketing at Saint Jo seph’s University in Philadelphia. John Lord noted that food items already have 100 percent U.S. household penetration. The growth iaafs BALE shredders VERSATILE Chop and feed the wettest silage bales. Chop dry hay, straw, and corn stalks Discharges to either, or both sides for free stall bedding Optional hose attachment for hard to reach areas and mulching application Models available to handle all sizes of round and big square bales MANEUVERABLE • 3 point mounted to operate in close quarters EASY TO OPERATE • Load bales with 3 point bale handler, no loader required. • Simple durable construction • Operate with as little as 60 hp WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS 100 Stover Drive 100-120 Lehigh Ave. - RO. Box 928 Carlisle, PA 17013 Batavia, New York 14021-0928 717/249-6720 716/343-5411 Serving Farmers Through Farm Equipment Dealers Since 1961 fi-Z FLEX FINANCING AVAILABLE CUMMINGS and BRISKER, Inc. rate for most products “is simply not there.” So how to change that? Lord, who spoke last month at the 2000 Pennsylvania Grazing and Forage Conference at the Grantville Holiday Inn, noted that everything being done in supermarkets is a re action to Wal-Mart provide dis count prices, service a “culture of convenience,” and promote prod ucts that foster cooking as a hobby more than a chore. This is all happening at a time when “sales of cookbooks are at an all-time high,” Lord said. As a result, marketers have had MULTIPLE BENEFITS • Improved Payability, less waste • Feed silage bales directly into bunk or fencelme feeders. Pre-chop material for TMR mixer. • Improved absorption ability of bedding material, less bedding required. • Clean comfortable beds. • Easier handling of manure with chopped material Distributed By: Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22, 2000—Page ject Ed Koncle, right, is congratulated by outgoing president Ed Rits at the conference. to realign their products to face a constantly on-the-go population. But people still want the ambience and the sensory experience the sounds and smells—of cooking. Lord said it is no longer consid ered “convenient” any more to take out a box of cereal, get a bowl, dump the contents, and pour in the milk. Instead, specialty boxes, packaging, and new ways of preparing are rising to the forefront of superstore marketing. America is no longer a “melt ing pot” of cultures. It is more like a salad, he said. Hispanics will be the largest LEGGETT S SEED & SUPPLY Central Maryland's distributor of Barenbrug Forage Grasses & Legumes Bromegrass I " Ferennial Matua Rye9 ™ ss , . 8Q34 Lupntne " Itakari T,m ° thy , BG “ Barliza Tetra-Plus 'ltalian Ryegrass’J "Mixtures" Green Spirit "Fescue" Horsemaster Barcel Stockmaster "White Clover" Barolex 1— —...- . - Alice TF-33 "Alfalfa" Tripoli -—-i Baralfa 54 Southern Cross Baralfa 3210 also available: chicory, turnips, rape fie "Start" red clover Call: Craig Leggett 301-733-2818 19933 Lemuel Lane Boonsboro, MD 21713 Toll Free 1-877-733-2818 Fax 301-797-4515 Dale Price Chester Horst Ph: 301-432-7204 Ph: 717-597-3994 (Wash. Co.) (Franklin Co.) Dealer Inquiries Welcome minority by the year 2010. And packagers are looking to serve the clientele, promote the health of products, and provide convenience while not giving up taste. Kids alone spend about $7.7 billion per year on food. Increasingly, the emphasis on healthy products for a busy lifestyle will put more demands on food vari ety, ease of preparation, and overall food safety. According to James Dunn, Penn State, with the Internet you can “find people interested in your obscure product,” he said. “People are no longer restricted to local sources for food.” More mergers are common in (Turn to Page 22) 213
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers