Promoting equity in local food systems through Extension: Webinar 9/6

By Heather Manzo, Extension Educator. Please join us for an eXtension CoP Community, Local, and Regional Food System webinar.

When: Wednesday, September 6, 12 - 1 pm Pacific Time/3 - 4 pm Eastern Time

How can we apply equity and anti-racism principles to our food system work? In answer to this question, this webinar provides three examples from the Cooperative Extension System of efforts to promote equity and undo racism in local food systems. These examples from North Carolina, Michigan, and Pennsylvania offer a range of experiences and strategies.

 Kaitlin Wojciak, from Michigan State University Extension, will describe a recent training and learning group dedicated to exploring issues of power, privilege, and racial equity for the state’s Community Food Systems team. Shorlette Ammons, from North Carolina’s Center for Environmental Farming Systems, will discuss the Center’s efforts to embed an equity lens and practice into all areas of its work. Heather Manzo, from Penn State Extension, will describe work with an urban food policy council to engage diverse community members and positively impact equity issues in the metropolitan food system.

 Please register here and be sure to include any questions you have for our speakers about their work.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

"Mandatory" social media platforms for agricultural businesses

By Dr Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business Management, and Dana Ollendyke, Extension Associate

Through an internet survey conducted by researchers at Penn State, Rutgers, Cornell, and New York University in 2013, 1,183 participants answered questions concerning their wine purchasing and consumption attitudes and behaviors and their demographic and socioeconomic status. Panelists were screened for being at least 21 years old, residing in one of the targeted mid-Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania), and for having purchased and drank wine at least once within the previous year.

This survey may be focused on wineries, but the data collected can be of use to many agricultural business types. Marketing is an integral part of doing business.  Using social media to inform consumers about your products and events is an excellent way to build relationships.

John Gillespie, founder and CEO of Wine Opinions, a wine research company, stated in the article "Who’s Drinking Wine? A Look at the Wine Market Council’s Latest Survey" that 66% of core wine drinkers (those who drink wine at least once a week) and 40% of marginal wine drinkers (those who drink wine less frequently than once a week) use the internet to get information about wine. The article also said that more than half of all wine drinkers are on Facebook.

Consumers who participated in our internet survey were asked to select from a provided list of social media platforms they felt were mandatory for a winery to offer.  As you can see by Figure 1, Facebook is the significant front-runner.  Over 40% of participants believed that this social media tool is "mandatory" for a winery to implement.  Other platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube were significantly less important to respondents.

Figure 1. Social media platforms that survey respondents believed were "mandatory" for a winery to implement.

More information about the survey results can be viewed in the video series "Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Wine Purchases".

To learn more about social media marketing and the survey data, please see video 5 in the series.

As an agricultural business owner, what social media platforms do you use?  Which one(s) seems to drive the most interaction with your customers?

What Is Your Business's Customer Service Philosophy?

 by Juliette Enfield, Penn State Extension Educator, Warren County

Although we give and receive customer service almost every day, we rarely take time to stop and think about what customer service means. Customer service does not come easily or naturally for most people. Providing good customer service is a skill that involves product knowledge, concern or empathy for the customer, readiness to help the customer, and knowing where to go to find answers. John Berry, Extension Educator in Lehigh County reinforces these ideas with a four step process for providing excellent customer service:

Be sure your employees know about the product they are selling.

–      Know the Product

–      Reach Out

 

–      Be Alert

–     Get Help

Customer service affects a business’s bottom line when there are many competitors. The fewer competitors, the less customer service matters, such as in the telephone and internet service provider industry. The more competitors, the more customer service matters, which is the case in the food industry. 

Another benefit to providing good customer service is the cost savings associated with customer retention. Losing one customer can have a domino effect on a business. The business from this customer is lost, but so is the business they could have brought to you, as well as the opportunity to change something that was not working well in your business. Remember these two rules of thumb: attracting new customers costs 5 times more than keeping existing customers, and 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.



Taylor's Farm Market (which I recently visited on our Are You Crazy Retail Farm Market Bus Tour) in Inwood, West Virginia shares their customer service philosophy.

You may have protocols in place for handling returns, or complaints, but it’s the customer service philosophy that is portrayed in these actions. Consider what script(s) you want your employees to follow when providing good customer service. For example, Sue Miller of Birchrun Hills Farm in Chester County, PA told me that for her, marketing is about having good relationships and providing good customer service.  She says she enjoys trying to guess what the customer wants. She believes that people don’t want to take advantage of you. She believes in treating people the way she would want to be treated. Sue says that if a customer is ever dissatisfied with her products, she is happy to exchange the product for a new one.

Below are some questions that can help start the customer service conversation at your business. I filled in some of my own reflections to get you started.

1. What is your business’s customer service philosophy?
We want people to feel that we care about them and their health by shopping with us.

2. What makes implementing this philosophy challenging?

Lack of sleep, not being able to relate to the customer-who may not have much awareness about agriculture, who may be from another culture, may make more money than I do, etc....

3. What works?

Not taking criticisms personally, offering services such as carrying heavy items, being honest...

4. What doesn’t work?

Apologizing when I don’t mean it...

5. What kind of customer service do you enjoy when shopping?

I like when the sales person is knowledgeable about the product, I also like when the sales person is not overly aggressive about making sales...

6. Does your business have a customer service training plan in place? Circle one.

Yes                                           No

Useful Books & Videos:
Carlaw, P. and Deming, V. The Big Book of Customer Service Training Games. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY. 1999. (This book is cheap to buy and has fun and educational training games that you could play with your employees)

Wicks, Judy. Good Morning, Beautiful Business. Chelsea Green Publishing. White River Junction, VT. 2013. (This book was featured at the Pennsylvania Women in Ag Network's Annual Symposium in 2013. Judy Wicks spoke about her inspiring business and customer service philosophy.)

Telephone Doctor® CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING, 30 Hollenberg Ct. St. Louis, MO 63044,(314) 291-1012, Fax: (314) 291-3710, E-mail: nancy@telephonedoctor.com, www.telephonedoctor.com (Purchasing these tools is not cheap but there are some sample materials on YouTube which are entertaining and educational)

The Learning Service, Ltd., 2800 Market Avenue North Canton, Ohio 44714, Phone: (330) 456-2422, Fax:(330) 456-8944, E-mail: learningservice@aol.com, www.thelearningservice.com (This company has published several books on customer service which are listed on their website)

Sources for this blog:

Berry, John. I Seem to Have Lost a Customer Some Place! April 8, 2014. Agricultural Entrepreneurship Blog. <http://farmbusiness.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-seem-to-have-lost-customer-someplace.html> Accessed Sept 9, 2015.

Lawrence, Alex. Five Customer Retention Tips for Entrepreneurs. Nov 1, 2012.
< http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexlawrence/2012/11/01/five-customer-retention-tips-for-entrepreneurs/> Accessed Sept 8, 2015.

Makovsky, Ken. Where Customer Service Doesn’t Matter. Jan 23, 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2014/01/23/where-customer-service-doesnt-matter/>Accessed Sept 8, 2015.

What is Cause Marketing? Part 3

By Dr Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business Management, and Dana Ollendyke, Extension Associate


This post will continue to outline some of the important topics to consider in deciding if a cause marketing plan is right for your business. (Post 1 and Post 2 in this series have been published in previous weeks.)

Promote that you are also accepting donations

In addition to selling a product or two where the proceeds go directly to support the cause, let customers know that they can also donate funds to the cause.  You, as the business owner, may assume that consumers would automatically understand that there is more than one way to support a cause; however, it may not occur to consumers that they can make a donation in place of making a purchase.

Involve customers in selecting the cause

Two separate strategies can be used to involve consumers in selecting the cause:

• ask consumers to nominate a cause and then vote on the one that will receive all the donations.
• allow consumers to choose from a group of causes that would receive the donations.

This second technique is what ONEHOPE Wine has embraced. The brand donates half of all profits to a list of causes including: Cure Alzheimer’s Disease, Support Our Veterans, Save Our Planet, and several others. Each wine is associated with a specific cause. In Image 1, you can see that half of the profits for the 2009 Santa Barbara Reserve Chardonnay helps fund research to find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease.

Image 1.  Bottle of OneHope wine that benefits research to find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease.

Involve employees

Finally, employees should be asked to do more than just collect donations or indicate what purchases support the cause.  Involve them in the process of selecting the cause and associated administration needed to support events or activities.  The more employees support the effort, the more likely they are to alert customers that your business is involved in collecting donations to help those in difficult situations.

As with any new marketing program, it is very important to DO YOUR RESEARCH to determine if this is the right path for your business. 

Internet Tools to Help You Learn About New Markets, Part 4

By Dr Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business Management, and Dana Ollendyke, Extension Associate

In our previous post, we discussed using Easy Analytic Software Inc (EASI), which allows users to more easily search Census data.  This post, which will be the final one in this series, will focus on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) reports from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

These reports are free of charge to prospective or existing small business owners who are receiving business-counseling services from their local SBDC Advisor.

Some of the reports include:

• Competition maps—These maps show the location of individual competitors in relation to a small business location.
• Competitor lists—These lists can include a competitor’s company name, location, number of employees at each location, whether the location is a competitor’s single location or branch, estimated annual sales volume, the competitor’s NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) and SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes and a latitude and longitude coordinate.
• Consumer expenditure comparison reports—These reports help clients evaluate the relative demand for their chosen industry within their local market area, county, state, and the nation.
• Drive time reports—The time it takes to travel to a local store or restaurant can be a significant factor in defining the target market for a small business. These highly detailed maps show the geographic boundaries of a small business’ target market customized to the amount of time considered acceptable to the small business’ clientele (Image 1).

Image 1. A sample Drive Time Map showing the market area that can reach a small business destination in Lakewood, CA within 10 minutes. (Contact your local SBDC for a customized map.)

Certainly, this blog series doesn’t discuss all that is needed to better understand consumers’ attitudes, behaviors, etc. towards wine based on their race and ethnicity. It does, however, provide some tools that are useful in gathering data and learning about the population of racial and ethnic groups you could serve in your community.

There are other components such as the consumer’s level of “acculturation,” which is the “cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting or borrowing traits from another culture” (http://bit.ly/1xEH2NK). To demonstrate this point, we will use an example from Kathy’s family. Her sister-in-law was born in South Korea and came to the U.S. 15 years ago. As she has become more ingrained in U.S. society, some of her habits and preferences have become more “mainstream” American. Not only can food choices, etc. change over time, but as someone becomes “fully acculturated,” their language preference can change from their native language to English (http://bit.ly/1IxluaM) which could impact how you choose to promote your wine.

Another component is to search the Internet for “wine and Asian culture,” “wine and Chinese culture,” etc. to learn about wine style preferences and how wine is consumed (e.g. wine and Coke or wine cocktails). Also, don’t forget to investigate what culturally significant holidays these consumers celebrate.

Regardless, conducting adequate research is crucial when developing a realistic marketing plan. By finding out as much as possible about viable consumers, you will have a much better chance of understanding their needs and wants and hopefully gaining them as customers.

Internet Tools to Help You Learn About New Markets, Part 1

By Dr Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business Management, and Dana Ollendyke, Extension Associate

In the marketing world, we constantly discuss strategies to increase sales, and these conversations often focus on two options – sell more to your current customers or find new ones.

Most people would agree that it is much easier to meet current customers’ needs and demands because you already have a relationship with them. Therefore, your promotion and advertising “costs” (time and money) should be less than what you might need to acquire new customers.  For this post, we will be using wine as our example.

Imagine that you are looking for new markets to sell your wine to because:

• your wine production volume has increased. 
• you feel you have exhausted the local market and have done your best to attract visitors looking for a tasting room experience. 
• and/or it is essential to investigate new opportunities.

When you first developed your tasting room business plan, you probably gave some thought as to how you would market to consumers and how you would identify potential clientele. If it has been awhile since you’ve reviewed your business plan, you will likely need to update it since your business has probably changed over the years.

 

Customers visiting a winery's tasting room (Photo credit http://bit.ly/1AyDrbl)

Perhaps you not only thought about how you would attract and meet the needs of consumers based on their generation, consumption frequency, and when they drink wine (e.g. while cooking, watching sports, at restaurants, etc), but maybe you even gave some consideration to learning about how different cultures approach wine and include (or exclude) wine from their diets.

We subscribe to several different online newsletters and journals (some of which are international) and regardless of the newsletter/journal’s origin, there is often an article about how a large brand, wine company, or group of wineries are looking to export to emerging markets. Along with providing information about current wine consumption and predictions, wine preferences, and how wine should be presented in the marketing place (cork vs. screw cap, for example), these articles discuss the population of these foreign lands in terms of growth trends, major population centers, generational distribution, major ethnic groups and races, gender breakdown, employment rate, etc. — all of which can help a business determine the viability of the market and to whom/where to market the product.

Though the goal of these articles is to provide information for targeting wine consumers, the information provided can certainly be useful for targeting consumers of any product or service based on specific racial and ethnic heritages.

But how should you begin crafting a strategy to target these consumers?
Winery tasting room owners/operators may be familiar with “who” lives in their city or county, but if you need a refresher or have never really delved into the demographic makeup of these residents, information can be found online in multiple places.

Some of our top picks include:

• The US Census Bureau website.
• Easy Analytic Software Inc (EASI) Demographics tool.
• Small Business Development Center's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) reports.

We will discuss each of these tools in more detail in future posts.

First Impressions Count – Marketing Display Techniques from the World’s Best Markets

"Pile it high and watch it fly" is a popular marketing tactic that is alive and well in some of the best international markets. This month, members of the Penn State Extension Marketing team traveled to Barcelona to participate with market professionals from 6 continents and learn from some of the most profitable markets in the world. A recent trip through many of our host city’s most famous farmers markets yields interesting merchandising techniques to start your 2015 summer market season off with a bang and hopefully a few more bucks in your pocket!


Successful marketers in Spain’s bustling market places are pairing age old techniques with bright new merchandising tricks to make their produce pop!

Here are a few tips:

1. Careful stacking is paramount! First, form a solid base. You can’t pile it high if it rolls on the floor! Start with a stair step type foundation made of boxes, plastic reusable containers that stack to transport from the farm, or simply small boxes that you packed your product in to bring to market. Next, pad your stack to create a non-slip surface. This can be done with tissue paper or organic material such as leaves. Then stack your product in a pyramid formation, depending on its shape and resilience to stacking.









2. Display vertically. Think of the vertical space on your table and make good use of it! Typically customers can reach across a table at a distance of up to 4 feet if a display is tilted at an upward sloping angle compared to only a reach of 2 feet if they are forced to reach straight across the table in order to reach your item for their shopping basket. This can be achieved by providing steep sloping stair steps behind baskets and boxes angling them so products are served directly up to the customer’s ideal height and reach.



3. Think outside the box when making display rack choices. A unique display container or shelf can stand out if you limit your number of racks or other display items. Be sure not to crowd your stand with many small shelves or racks as this tends to give an over-decorated or busy look and distracts the customer from your product.





4. Height matters in the height of the season! When produce is plentiful and you must expand outside of your primary table be sure to raise items to an ideal level for your customer. An easy way to do this is to stack crates or boxes that you used to bring your product to market. Topping them with an eye-catching basket, cloth or other material makes items placed here stand out. This technique is also useful for special items you would like to highlight for the day in addition to when you have an overflow of tomatoes or large items such as winter squash.


Whatever your product or variety throughout the year, plentiful displays, friendly smiles, consistent easy-to-read signs and a thoughtful display will get your product noticed this market season.





by Carla Snyder, Ag Entrepreneurship & Marketing Educator, Penn State Extension

Mid-Atlantic Consumer Demand for Ethnic Produce is on the Rise

Why is demand increasing for ethnic produce in the mid-Atlantic?  U.S. Census data indicates New York City, Washington DC, and Philadelphia are among the top ten cities that are majority-minority in population, meaning ethnic minorities account for more than half of the population (Census 2010). U.S. Census data also shows that the mainstream population only increased by 9.7% from 2000 to 2010 as compared to 43% for Asians and 43% for Hispanics (Census 2000, 2010). With this increase in population, there certainly would be an increased demand for ethnic produce and therefore more economic opportunities for producers, wholesalers, and retailers who grow and sell these products.  

To address this increased demand for ethnic produce, researchers at Penn State, Rutgers, the University of Florida, and the University of Massachusetts along with industry members (including farmers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, etc) gathered earlier this year to discuss research data and trends related to ethnic crops in the mid-Atlantic at the 2014 Ethnic Greens and Herbs Workshop.  One of the projects developed by the research team was the Worldcrops.org website.  The World Crops site provides information about vegetables and herbs that can be grown in the northeastern United States. The emphasis is on crops that are popular among ethnic groups living here and can be grown here.  The site is organized by country. 

Another helpful aspect of the site is the glossary which is available in English to Spanish and vice versa.  A user can easily find the English or Spanish name for a particular type of produce as well as the genus and species of more than 350 entries.  Example 1 shows that an avocado is called an “aguacate” (Spanish), “pagua” (Mexican), or “pahua” (Mexican) and the genus and species is Persea americana.

Example 1.  Screenshot of English to Spanish glossary on Worldcrops.org.

Visitors can also find ethnic crops based on the country of origin.  In the “Go to region” box on the main page, visitors can click on a region and then select a country.  In example 2, Brazil is shown.  The language spoken is Portuguese and some of the main crops used in this country are listed including cilantro, maxixe, and okra. 

Example 2.  Screenshot of "Go to region" listing for Brazil on Worldcrops.org.

If you are an ag entrepreneur and are interested in exploring ethnic crop opportunities, it's imperative that you DO YOUR RESEARCH as you would with trying any new opportunity for your business.  Good luck!

What's Trending in Restaurants for 2014?

No matter what type of retail you are in (agricultural or otherwise), it is very important to stay ahead of trends if you want to keep up with your customers' evolving wants.  It's not necessary to embrace every trend or change your business model entirely, but it is crucial to know what is trending and how these trends will affect your business.  In a recent report by Technomic (a foodservice research and consulting firm), the top 10 trends for restaurants in 2014 are listed.  Below are a few of those trends.  If you are a restauranteur, take some time to ask yourself some of the following questions as to how this trend would affect your business.

• More information.  Listing ingredients, where they came from, and how they were prepared are all pieces of information consumers are looking for.  
• Things to thing about: Do you need to redo your menus so they are more descriptive?
• When looking at other restaurants' menus, what cooking terms make you want to order a certain meal (for example, chargrilled, fire roasted, caramelized, vine ripened, etc)?  Use these descriptors to develop your menu and entice your customers.   
• Do you have a relationship with the farms you buy from?  Guests may find it interesting to know where their food is coming from.  For example, ask the farmer to write a description about the farm and the food to feature in your menu.
• In the menu below, look at items like the Elk Creek Burger and Valley Ham + Cheddar.  Items in the dishes are described well and also list farms that source the ingredients.

Elk Creek Cafe menu.

• Starches are back.  In previous years, carbs were put on the "naughty list" with the introduction of low carb and no carb diets, but that trend seems to be fading.  Technomic says, "Rice bowls will be big, in part because of continued fascination with Asian fare and in part because of an association with healthfulness.  Look for more in the way of flatbreads, wraps and all kinds of artisan breads including healthy whole grain varieties."
• Things to think about: Do your dining guests  have alternatives besides bread (like wraps)
• Do you offer healthier options like whole grains in your bread and pasta selections?  
• Spotlight these healthier options in your menu somehow (for example place them in a special section in the menu, use an icon to highlight the healthier options, etc).

Artisan whole grain breads.

• Eating on-the-go.  Customers want foods that are easy to eat on-the-go, including handheld foods and car-friendly packaging.  
• Do you currently have any items that are convenient to eat on the run or are there any menu items that can be modified to fit this need?
• What kind of packaging will you need to purchase to make your foods grab-and-go?

KFC chicken fingers and fries served in packaging that fits in a car cup holder.

As always, do your research BEFORE embracing a new trend.  What works for one restaurant may not work for you or your customers.

Educating Consumers and Employees on New Meat Names

The National Pork Board and Beef Checkoff Program recently announced new names for some of their meat products in an effort to help customers find and prepare beef and pork.  As you can see by the graphics below, some of the names have changed significantly (for example, pork loin rib chop to ribeye chop and beef chuck eye edge pot roast, boneless to Denver roast).  

Figure 1.  Pork loin name changes. 

Figure 2.  Beef chuck name changes.

Figure 3.  Beef sirloin name changes.

All graphics from USAtoday.com

The new names are meant to help bring clarity to the many different cuts available, but how will this affect you, the business owner?  Both employees and consumers will need to be educated on the new names.  Simply labeling meat with the new name will not be sufficient in identifying these changes.  Graphics (like those above) that show what part of the animal each piece of meat comes from should help as well as listing the old name versus the new.  Employees will also need to be trained in distinguishing the new names and then also passing the knowledge onto the customer.  As an ag business owner, you will probably want your employees to spend more time with customers to identify what kind of meal they want to prepare and what cut would work best.  Read more about the new names at USAtoday.com.

Obviously, this is going to require more work for you, but it may also open up an opportunity to connect with customers.  Talking directly to customers as they enter the meat department is an obvious opportunity, but you can also hold classes, provide samples, and recipes.  

As an ag business owner, how do you feel about these new names?  Do you think customers will embrace the change?  Do you envision an increase or decrease in sales?  How are you planning to educate customers?

As a customer, did you find the old names to be confusing?  Will these new names help you to better chose the most appropriate meat for your recipes?  Do you think you will buy more or less beef and pork because of this?