Every young American knew that eating an apple a day would keep you from going to the doctor.
Today, Gen Z (young people ages 13 to 26) make up 20 percent of shoppers at a major retail chain, but only 3 percent buy apples. When they think of healthy options, they choose blueberries and avocado.
“It's sobering,” Steve Clement, CEO of Sage Fruit Co., said in a speech about the decline in apple consumption at the Washington State Fruit Tree Association's annual meeting in December.
He said most U.S. households still buy apples, but consumption is declining. Although consumption of agricultural products in general has declined by 10 percent over the past 18 years, consumers have been eating more fruits such as grapes, berries, and citrus fruits in recent years, while eating more fruits such as raisins, peaches, cantaloupe, and apples. reported eating less frequently.
“The decline of apples is very worrying to me,” Clement said. “We would like this industry to consider promoting our products. When are we going to fight back?”
Clement is not alone in asking this question. This winter, industry leaders began meeting informally to discuss how new approaches to consumer marketing could be designed. Participants say it is still in its early stages and there is a long and difficult road ahead. Twenty years ago, the Washington Apple Commission's lawsuit that ended the national program put collective marketing in a bad place. Since then, the trend of brand marketing and integration has only grown stronger. (The committee's international marketing continues.)
“No one is talking to consumers about the health benefits of apples,” says Julie Dejanat, Chelan Fresh brand manager. She was inspired by a conversation at last fall's International Fresh Produce Association conference, which invited industry leaders to discuss modern apple advertising.
She stressed that no one is proposing to reinstate the old Washington Apple Commission. Instead, she enlisted participation from across the country to reshape consumer perceptions of the benefits of apples and create an “umbrella campaign” that can be strategically executed on a shoestring budget using today's sophisticated marketing tools. I'm planning it. It remains to be seen how to involve competitive industries in this type of collaborative effort.
“I don't have the answers. I'm just trying to get the right people to the table and have the conversation,” she said. “We want to give producers hope that chainsaws are not their only option.”
Meanwhile, some industry leaders believe a better balance may be found by addressing the supply side of the apple equation rather than the demand.
“Can we improve the intensity of our messaging by spending more money? Yes. But it is the most linear mechanism that creates better pricing for us as producers. We need to reduce this to a level that matches the current demand profile of our customers around the world,” said West Matheson, President of Stemilt. Producer. “The volume of certain varieties increased rapidly and exceeded the demand we created.”
Eric Boughton, director of business development at Boughton Fruit, said the industry can tackle both. And we need to do so despite the lingering politics of the past.
“It's a different era, a different category, and the competition is different,” he said. “We need to make everyone aware that we have a consumption problem and it is in all of our interests to solve it.”
Not your father's apple marketing
In the early 2000s, when the Washington Apple Commission and other commodity commissions faced legal challenges from producers to mandatory evaluations of generic promotions, their motivations were philosophical (why competitors? ) and realistic (these evaluations are expensive and we don't need to do it). (You don't know if you're getting a return on your investment.)
Regarding the latter, Dejanat says that today's marketing tools create new opportunities to target customers and measure the effectiveness of campaigns.
“Look at the unique brands that we all run now. Everyone is doing really sophisticated consumer marketing,” she said. “But they don't have the scale to move the needle in this category.”
Steve Lutz, vice president of retail insights firm Category Partners, said it's certainly possible to do more with less. For example, consider the successful implementation of Cosmic Crisp.
“If you think about it, the budget is relatively small. And think about the consumer awareness that has been building up over several years,” Lutz said. “People say it's impossible, but it's been done. It's been on the market for essentially five years and consumer awareness is approaching Pink Lady, which has been on the market for 20 years.”
However, even small campaigns require a budget. Dejanat said the subcommittee is considering funding opportunities, including grants and support from public and private sector partners, which also rely on strong demand for a successful apple industry.
“We are still looking at something voluntary,” she said, adding that she believes it is possible without additional assessment of producers.
Dejanat urged producers who support the idea of co-marketing to contact their warehouses and sales contacts.
She is also seeking support from across the United States.
Brenda Briggs, vice president of sales and marketing for Penn State Rice Fruit, said she is encouraged by the new conversation and glad to be a part of it.
“We have an iconic fruit. It's healthy and useful, but looking back, maybe we were a little complacent,” she said. “The industry has an opportunity to educate consumers about the health and convenience of apples…but (the conversation) is still in its early stages.”
Meanwhile, Diane Smith, director of the Michigan Apple Commission, is working with other apple states to similarly apply for grants to help parent apples with digital marketing.
Consumption across categories
After Washington State discontinued co-promotion, the domestic market continued to grow as variety selection and year-round availability expanded.
“I'm exhausted. I don't have any more shelf space and I don't have any months in the year to add more,” Lutz said.
“The latest USDA data I've seen shows that per capita apple consumption in the United States is at or near its lowest level in 50 years,” Lutz said. “Combine this with the fact that the variety and quality of products we are offering consumers is higher than ever. So how does he square those two factors? Do you want it?”
Newer, better quality apples do not strengthen this category, instead replacing older apples instead of increasing consumption.
This is of course good news for producers of these varieties, but not for the category as a whole. But given the highly competitive and consolidated nature of the industry, the economic incentive for individual shippers is to compete for a bigger piece of the pie, rather than adding to it, Lutz said. .
“I salute those who are trying to find a way forward,” he said. “This is difficult because the marketer-retailer relationship is not designed to drive overall consumption.”
Reducing supply to raise prices puts the industry in a war of attrition, Bolton said.
“As a Bolton family, of course we are competitive… but I would rather spend better than that and create a bigger pie for everyone,” he said.
Clement said he has concluded that other co-promoted products, such as potatoes and blueberries, are also struggling with the same forces, but that together they can have a greater impact. “It's mainly about critical mass,” he said in a follow-up interview. “I'm sure we can make it.”
By increasing per capita consumption of apples by just a few apples per year (1.6 pounds per person is a 10 percent increase), “the yield of these 140 million boxes would be like the yield of 125 million boxes.'' “It would look like this,” he said. . “What if he could price 125 million boxes versus 140 million boxes?”
—Written by Kate Prengman
