A few months ago I posted a short note on SANET on a March 10th story in "The Packer" announcing the formation of a new Dutch Cooperative, Delft Growers, and their intention to ship vine-ripe green-house tomatoes and peppers to the U.S.
Each piece of fruit will have on it a "Pesticide free" sticker, and point of purchase information will describe the ecologically friendly IPM systems used to grow the fruit (for a copy, call 212-265-6406 and ask for a copy of "Facts and Figures on Tomatoes and Peppers.").
In my earlier SANET note, and a speech 2/28/97 given at USDA, I predicted that such labeled fruit would be in U.S. supermarkets by the fall. I was wrong; they are here now (see May 12th "The Packer", section C, page 9).
Many people question whether U.S. consumers care enough about produce quality to pay a premium for fresher, tastier, less pesticide-contaminated produce. A few facts from the May 10th Packer suggest that at least some consumers do care --
* Vine-ripe tomato imports into the U.S. rose 87% from 1995 to 1996 (based on first eight months of 1996 comparison); imports from The Netherlands, up 37% to just under 100 million pounds.
* Pepper % increases comparable, about half the volume
* Price of Dutch vine-ripe tomatoes are $2.00 to $3.00 per pound, more than TWICE price of US grown, yet demand is still exploding.
* Most Dutch and Israeli vine-ripe imports are accompanied by some sort of ecologically-grown, IPM, and/or pesticide free sticker. Virtually ALL Dutch exporters are using food safety and environmental benefits as a major component of their sales/marketing pitches worldwide.
The Hartman Report, Phase I and II, documents clearly that about half of the U.S. consuming public are interested in supporting more environmentally friendly ag systems through their food purchasing decisions, and that about 26% are ready to translate concerns into changes in buying patterns IF they can find green-labeled foods that are of equal quality in other dimensions and at competitive, although possibly marginally higher prices. A recent FMI report says the same thing. But to act on these concerns, consumers must have reasons to believe in a green-label; many are skeptical that a lot of "environmentally friendly" claims in the past have been like the "No Cholesterol" claims on foods that never contained any.
All or most Dutch produce exports contain a box stating that the produce was grown using "Environmentally Conscious Cultivation (ECC)." This box is generally accompanied by a simple but catchy butterfly logo. The text of the box states in part:
"Meeting Consumer and Government concerns about the environment is essential. The goal is to have unlimited supplies of perfect, organically-grown produce. Though this is not yet commercially viable, environmentally conscious cultivation (ECC) is already a reality in Holland..."
Most retailers in Holland, and indeed other European countries, have stated policies favoring/promoting organic, but these policies and store officials also state that the supplies of organic are not sufficient to meet demand year-round and reliably, and hence the stores are also making ECC and IPM grown foods available to give consumers another choice, as well as to help farmers make the transition from pesticide-dependent systems to organic agriculture.
Perhaps coincidentally, but also perhaps because of the ability of Dutch grower-shippers to supply high-quality fresh produce reliably, the magnitude of change underway in the Dutch produce business is remarkable. Millions of dollars are being invested in new green-houses, shipping networks, and advanced genetics and IPM systems. Dutch firms, alone and in partnerships are building new, huge, high-tech greenhouse facilities in Mexico and other countries, with the goal of assuring year-round supplies from a network of growing locations, each covering maybe 2-4 months of the market.
The Dutch are switching from low-return per unit, high volume items to high return, lower-volume but value-added "top end" items, all shipped by jet across the Atlantic. Prospects for rapid growth in the U.S. market is a major driver for this change. Um, wonder what they know that seems to be escaping most of the U.S. produce business? There is not a single U.S. grower-shipper among the 50 plus advertisers in each recent issue of "The Packer" that says anything in its advertising copy about the environment or IPM, except organic growers/shippers.
