STORES Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 36)

EXECUTIVE SUITE / COVER STORY says. Overall, two-thirds of responPeople are putting dents “said they were more likely to a face back buy fruits and vegetables if they on their foods were labeled as local, compared by building with only 30 percent for organics.” relationships with The definition of what constitutes local farmers “local” was all over the map, however: For some people it was within 10 miles, while for others it was just within their own state. “It’s very much open to interpretation,” Stewart says. In order to understand why people are interested in locally grown products, PMA partnered with Cornell University to conduct consumer surveys at point of sale. Fewer than half of the respondents said they were confident in the safety of produce growing conditions, and two-thirds believed that locally grown products were safer than those transported longer distances. Roughly three-quarters cited concerns about the safety of imports. “Clearly, one of the drivers of this trend is a crisis of confidence,” Stewart says. “People are trying to put a face back on their foods by building relationships with farmers in their part of the country. This tells us we have some work to do in restoring people’s confidence so they can feel as safe about a product grown across the country as one grown next door. “To some extent, the produce industry has let people down,” she says. “In the rush to get cheaper foods to market and to speed up the supply chain, we have lost our relationship with customers. We need to get that back.” Perception drives reality hristie agrees. “Perception drives reality and purchasing patterns,” she says. “Therefore, we have to do a better job of educating consumers about who we are and our industry’s commitment to providing them with fresh fruits and vegetables.” The carbon footprint of fruits and vegetables is another issue that may be being driven as much by perception as reality, according to Christie. “There’s a story out of the U.K. about ‘flower miles,’ a story about importing roses from Kenya and the negative carbon footprint,” she says. “However, Kenyan roses were found to have less of an environmental impact than those grown in a greenhouse two counties away. There are few places that can rely on locally grown year-round.” The idea of food miles has also been challenged by a number of scientific studies, including one at Lincoln University in New Zealand. In fact, depending on packaging, processing, storage and growing conditions, locally grown foods could be more harmful to the environment, according to researchers in the U.K. And there’s the underlying nature of our culture of instant gratification. “We all want to support local economies,” Christie says, “but we also want fresh lettuce, spinach, cucumbers and peppers when it’s 32 degrees outside.” StORES Len Lewis, a veteran retail industry journalist and columnist for publications in the United States and Europe, is editorial director of Lewis Communications and the author of “The Trader Joe’s Adventure — Turning a Unique Approach to Business into a Retail and Cultural Phenomenon.” WWW.STORES.ORG C 36 STORES / APRIL 2008 http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - April 2008

STORES Magazine - April 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page More Retailers Bagging Monthly Comp-Store Reports Time-Warner Center's Economy-Defying Results What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Eating Locally Grocery Concept2Watch Restaurants Online Services Marketing Human Resources Product Lifecycle Management E-Commerce: Peer Reviews Drive Online Buyers Kiosks Recycling Operations Payment Systems POS Logistics E-Commerce: Getting Personal Website Management LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - April 2008

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