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Market Watch


Promoting B.C. fruit is considered to be a slam-dunk bymarketing professionals.


B


ritish Columbia orchardists have a lot in their favour in the cut-throat world of selling apples, according to Richard Appleby, marketing professor in the Okanagan School of Business at Okanagan College. An increasing population, new variety development, general support for buying local products, room to grow in domestic markets and support for socially and


environmentally-responsible businesses are all on the side of B.C. apples, he told growers. Appleby was speaking on the topic of ‘Marketing to create loyalty’ at a luncheon concluding the 122nd annual B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association convention in January. There is great recognition of the B.C. and Okanagan brand, and the industry needs to capitalize on it more, he advised growers. Today, Appleby said, consumers are more diverse and better educated, but also more


environmentally-aware and socially- responsible in their decisions about buying food.


Families are getting smaller, but there are more dual-income families. There are greater debt loads and people are harder to promote to. The younger generation just filters out what it doesn’t want to hear, since it’s bombarded with electronic messaging from all kinds of sources. Retailers have consolidated, which increases their buying power, but decreases the growers’ options. Exchange rates have weakened, so prices have suffered.


Fuel costs are increasing and world production is increasing which makes it harder to compete in the global marketplace.


Most important, though, he said, is to know your customers; their needs, interests and the dollars they have to spend.


6


By Judie Steeves The brand is great,but an under-achiever


It’s also important to keep in mind the hierarchy of needs, beginning with the basics of hunger and thirst, and rising to the need for self- development and self-realization. “If you can persuade a customer there’s an added value in your product, (above satisfying hunger or thirst) they will be prepared to pay more,” said Appleby. Optimize quality, he advised, and build relationships.


He asked his students at the college who among them buys apples, and learned that only 60 per cent do so every week.


Appleby regions.


“There’s something missing here,” he commented.


“If they don’t see that people will want them, they won’t offer them.” Millions of apples could be sold to students alone, Appleby said, but he found they weren’t available where students get their lunches.


He also learned that lots of restaurants in the Okanagan don’t have apple dishes on the menu, despite the fact they’re in the middle of one of the country’s largest apple-producing


“Why aren’t they available?” Appleby offered apples to students, and found they wanted more, so there is interest.


In the future, he said, the Internet


will be a direct channel to the customer, both for education and for marketing.


Mobile marketing is all very new, and who knows where it will go, he said.


However, he advised orchardists to think in terms of a success story like Starbucks coffee. Think in terms of “StarBob’s Apple Outlet” with a variety of apples, prepared in different ways and priced at the high end rather than at the low end.


Or, about Apple Health Centres, with apple options for after exercise; along with healthy meal options like apple salads.


It might also be an idea to introduce Radio Frequency Identification Dots (RFID) which inform consumers when fruit should be consumed.


He noted that a five per cent increase in consumer loyalty can translate into a 95 per cent increase in product sales.


He concluded by saying, “If you’re not moving ahead, you’re falling behind.”


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