Few leaders in our industry would debate that the two most important national produce industry trade groups are United Fresh and the Produce Marketing Association.  Although both represent the entire industry – United is more focused on domestic growers and PMA on distributors and marketers.

United is particularly effective in advocacy at the federal level. PMA’s principal strength is in bringing domestic and international buyers and sellers together at their annual trade show. Both offer workshops and strategies that cover a wide range of issues facing the produce industry.

Having two similar organizations resulted in mission overlap and member financial and resource fatigue. The uncertain future in the short term of on-site trade shows due to the Covid Pandemic has finally resulted in the merger of these two essential produce industry trade groups in January of 2022. This will result in a stronger more focused organization. The next 18 months will be a critical time for the consolidated premier produce industry trade group to redefine its goals and mission.

Produce for Better Health is the other major national produce industry trade group. PBH reaches out to the produce and food business community and directly to consumers. Their goal is to increase daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was founded 30 years ago and Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak is the current President and CEO.

Have A Plant, Lead the Change, Educational Resources, National Fruit and Veggies Month, Recipes and Ambassadors is just a partial list of some of the programs and initiatives available on the PBH website. How successful has PBH been? That depends on how you measure success.

In 2020 fresh produce sales increase by 11%  However based on a recently completed study commissioned by PBH, Americans eat less and less fresh fruits and vegetables every year. In fact most Americans eat less than one fresh fruit or vegetable per day. Almost 25% do not consume any fresh produce at all during the course of an entire week. So per capita sales are down while overall produce sales are up.

Should we as an industry focus on the minority of the U.S. population that are regular consumers of fresh produce or should we try to develop the light, medium, and moderate users?

According to one study “heavy users” can account for up to 80% of consumption. PBH’s Lead the Change is an acknowledgment of the per capita produce consumption gap. It is meant to broaden the consumer base and increase overall produce consumption in this country.

The fresh produce industry has some mighty competition. Branded snacks and processed foods have extraordinary advertising and marketing budgets. As an example, Pepsi and Coca-Cola spent a combined $2 billion last year on advertising alone. Although there are a handful of fresh produce companies that are large enough to have a modest marketing and advertising budgets – for the most part the produce industry is a dispersed business community composed of small to medium sizes companies. We don’t have anything close to the centralized marketing prowess required to compete with large food companies. As an industry, we absolutely need to unite behind PBH to bring the positive message of eating more fresh produce to consumers.

So what has the produce industry done to respond to this challenge and increase produce consumption? There have been breathtaking changes and improvements in the past 25 years. In many categories, seasonality has virtually been eliminated due to supplies from Mexico, Central America, and the southern hemisphere. There are many new varieties that have greatly improved taste and shelf life. Add to this all the innovative new packaging in response to changing American lifestyles and demographics and you begin to see how much our industry has responded to this challenge. But is it enough?

The government is trying to encourage greater consumption of fresh produce. In 2020 the USDA issued a revised dietary guideline that recommended half your plate include fresh fruits and vegetables.  On the other hand, government subsidies that reduce the cost of corn, grain and soybean have contributed to our high calorie, low nutrient diet. Our citizens are among the unhealthiest in the developed world due to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes .

To their credit the USDA is responding. During the height of the pandemic last year the Department of Agriculture offered a special assistance program called “the farmers to families-food-box program” that included fresh produce. Just recently the federal government has approved the largest increase in SNAP – The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in years – 25% effective in October of 2021. This will impact over 42 million Americans. Studies have shown that the lower benefits prevented many Americans from adequately feeding themselves and their family healthy nutritious meals. This increase will greatly benefit fresh produce marketers over the coming years.

Fresh produce distribution has increased. It is now available in convenience, club and low overhead, smaller footprint food retailers. Prepared meals at retail and casual dining now often highlight fresh produce. Magazines and the media encourage greater consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. The wind is at our back. But we have to keep pressing to increase consumption among all Americans so producers, marketers, and distributors are competing in a growing not shrinking healthy food economy.

We need to do a better job in understanding how much per capita fresh produce consumption is related to ACCESS – availability, price, and convenience and how much is related to ATTITUDE either toward fresh produce in general or specific items. That information needs to be quantified and shared.

We also need to understand on a demographic level what is working, what is not, and for whom?  The new 2020 census results are in. It will take a while to fully understand it, but they report a significant change in the U.S. population.

Our industry needs to understand this change and engage directly with our customers. Continue to find out what consumers want and deliver it. That will be the best way to encourage the heavy users of fresh produce to eat more and bring along the 175 million Americans that eat less than one fruit and vegetable per day. Now that would really move the needle.

NOTE: Craig A. Padover and CAP Marketing & Sales. Oct.1, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Craig A. Padover and CAP Marketing & Sales with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thank you.

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