Why fresh produce branding is often inefficient and what to do instead

FreshPlaza asked Lisa Cork, from Fresh Produce Marketing Ltd., to face the reasons why fresh produce branding is often inefficient. "There are many reasons why fresh produce branding ‘under-performs’. I would like to focus on two of the reasons," Lisa said.

"First, in fresh produce, growers and producers tend to be production driven. A grower's focus or a packhouse’s focus is on producing a good product, packing it, then sending it to market. Their produce branding typically reflects this ‘production’ focus. Grower and packer brands tend to be farm names or grower names. While I appreciate a growers name might be important to the trade buyer, this name is (99% of the time) not important to the consumer."

So while a lot of money is spent on branding, this branding is little more than a grower identification brand that means nothing to the shopper.

"One major opportunity for growers and packers is to increase the ROI they get from their packaging spend by investing in a brand that ‘talks’ to the consumer" Lisa continues. "This means moving from a grower name/brand to a brand that appeals to the consumer. In this way, their product and brand meets consumer needs and is more likely to motivate purchases. The good news is growers and packers are already spending money in this area on ineffective branding. In the work I do with companies, we can convert this spending to getting them better results for the same investment."

A good example of a message addressed to consumer on a sticker. It informs the client not only about the variety, Purple Majesty, but also on the taste: 'Super Sweet'.

"The second common area I see where produce branding is ineffective or under-performs is when growers and packers focus exclusively on the variety of a piece of fruit. An example I love to use is mandarins. A large percentage of mandarin consumers are families with children" Lisa said. "The attributes they seek in mandarins are for them to be seedless and easy to peel. This enables children to prepare their own fruit, lessens the work load on the parent and it makes mandarins easy to eat. Yet most mandarin fruit stickers focus only on the variety of mandarin – which often means very little to the shopper."

For example, a mandarin sticker might say “Afourer” or “Clementine” or “Satsuma”, but this means nothing to the shopper. They don’t often buy by variety – they buy by product attribute. Mandarin stickers could be improved by reducing the size of the variety and putting words like “Seedless”, “Easy to Peel”, “Few seeds”.

One of the Lisa Cork's more recent branding projects, realized for New Zealand sweet potato Kumara. On the left, Kumara old package; it was focussed only on the producer's brand and there was no useful information for the buyer. On the right, the new brand "Love! Kumara" (developed on the fact that 90% of consumers 'loves Kumara'). The new bag included Kumara 'easy peeler' potatoes. The aim is controlling the frequency of purchase and investing on each occasion of purchase.

"Today, in a crowded, competitive market place where produce buyers can source fruit from around the world year round, growers and packers need to do more than be focused on producing a great piece of fruit. They need to be focussed on understanding who is buying their piece of fruit. This is where I come in. Growers and packers don’t have to do this on their own. I help growers and packers understand the needs and purchase motivations of both retail buyers and consumers."

"By focusing on a buyer’s needs, I can show them where the untapped opportunities are to better meet those needs. And the key to making more money or getting more sales in a crowded, competitive environment is to meet the buyers needs better than anyone else!" Lisa concluded.

Contact:
Lisa Cork
Fresh Produce Marketing Ltd.
Email: [email protected]