A fresh method of marketing
Use of socialmedia seen as a cheap, effective way for strawberry growers to get the word out at harvest time. By Judie Steeves
I
t may sound like tweeting is only for the birds, but strawberry growers may soon use Twitter to sell berries in a timely manner. With the help of $7,750 in funding from the Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C., the Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers’ Association is encouraging growers to use social media such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs to get the word out when fresh strawberries are available. “It’s an effective and economical opportunity for growers to access a wide consumer base. By using different outlets for continual updates on the strawberry harvest on each farm, the consumer will always be informed about the strawberry harvest,” explained Sarah Rostami of the IAF.
Most of the strawberry industry’s product now goes to the fresh market rather than processing, so it’s vital to inform consumers immediately when berries are ready for harvest, particularly as the harvest season is only about four weeks long, from mid-June to mid-July.
The transition from process to a fresh market has been challenging for industry, and it’s hoped this demonstration of the value of social media may improve marketing. With millions of berries needing to be moved in a very short time, it’s no good to have consumers learning the season is on, when it’s almost over. Berries are subject to spoilage and have a short shelf-life, so it’s particularly vital promotion about the season be on time.
By using social media, growers can boost consumer awareness of the timing of strawberry harvest. Coupled with the association’s aggressive print, TV and radio advertising campaign prior to the
for scorch virus. With a $75,484 grant from IAF, along with funding from the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba council that deliver the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation
Program for the federal agriculture ministry, another project aims to develop high- value, high-quality nutraceutical products which would make use of surplus berries. North American BioExtracts hopes
season, growers can make limited resources stretch further. IAF funding of $12,000 has also been awarded to an applied research project for the B.C. Blueberry Council to allow producers to select disease- free stock in future planting and to help in the removal of infected plants that are currently in production. Premature fruit drop, blueberry mosaic disease and blueberry scorch virus are significant problems for Pacific Northwest producers. While fruit drop limits crop, the other two diseases affect fruit yield and quality, and affect the ability of nurseries to ship plants.
This project aims to identify the causes and vectors for these diseases, as well as developing a universal test
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to help industry refine a new processing technology to extract nutrient oils from surplus berries and produce a nutrient-rich powder to market to nutraceutical networks. The new processing technology would give all Western Canadian berry producers affected by over- production, a new outlet for produce as well as greater access to global markets.
It’s hoped this project will help with an emerging imbalance as berry production outweighs demand, a problem that is expected to become worse as new plantings begin to produce over the coming few years. Global nutraceutical and functional food markets may be one solution to this over-supply.
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