Consumers Look Beneath The Wrap

By Jim Prevor, Editor-in-Chief, Produce Business

Branding in the produce industry is a peculiar issue with a peculiar dynamic. Decades of studies on this issue have consistently borne out the obvious: Consumers do not value individual produce brands to the extent they will stop shopping at a store that does not carry their favorite brand.

This is very different from the dynamic on packaged goods and many other products where consumers can have such loyalty that they will switch rather than try another brand. Try to sell a family that grew up on Hellman’s mayonnaise Kraft Miracle Whip and you will probably lose the customer.

Retailers are sensitive to this dynamic, which is why retailers carry many types of the same packaged items. There might be dozens of brands in categories such as soup, mustard, cereal, etc.

In contrast, not one retailer in America feels the need to have side-by-side displays of different brands of fruit. There is no place you can go in America and select bananas from side-by-side displays of Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte and Turbana.

Why is this? Several reasons: First, most produce brands are an identical product. Bananas are all Cavendish variety bananas with identical taste. This contrasts with many packaged goods where the brands represent substantively different products. A person who buys Gulden’s Mustard over French’s may be expressing a preference for a spicy brown mustard over a yellow mustard.

Very few produce items — Driscoll strawberries, many Sun World items, etc. — are literally distinct varieties from those sold by competitors. But for most, the items are exactly the same, and buyers know it.

Second, much produce branding has offered the consumer an unreliable quality proposition. Here is how it happens: A company promotes a brand and establishes a very high level of quality specifications for the label, perhaps marketing the substandard product under a #2 label for the trade only. Then, unfortunately, the weather is bad, the crop is of poor quality, and no product meets the rigorous quality control specifications.

To maintain the value proposition that has been sold to the consumer, the shipper has to stop marketing product until new and better product is available. This is very difficult for a business. The company has salespeople who need things to sell. And, of course, there are bills to pay. So the company decides to change its quality standards from absolute to relative. It will sell the very best of what is out there — although it will be selling a product it would have rejected last year. So consumers have an unsatisfactory and irregular eating experience with many produce brands.

Third, packaged goods manufacturers have gotten their shelf space as a result of either advertising direct to the consumer or by paying a slotting fee to the retailer. In either case, retailers feel obligated to carry the brand consistently. Many produce retailers juggle primary and secondary suppliers or buy on the free market and do not offer a consistent brand of most produce items to their customers. Without this consistency, there is little opportunity for brand preference to develop.

Fourth and finally, an important aspect of branding is that it provides consumers with an assurance of quality. This is very important if one is buying canned soup. With fresh produce, the product is sitting there available to be seen. So even if a consumer favors one brand of bananas over another, he can see which looks best.

Of course, this dynamic refers only to the relative merits of one brand over another. Although this issue was beyond the scope of this research, much research has indicated that consumers value produce branding in general and prefer the branded product. In focus groups, consumers report that the brand makes them feel as if someone is standing behind the product — an important thought in these food-safety-conscious times.

Conflating branding and packaging is problematic because much produce packaging is done under trade brands that mean little if anything to consumers.

Consumer perception that packaged produce is lower quality may be accurate. In many items, we package a smaller size or lower grade.

It is also true that bags or clamshells containing products such as grapes force a consumer to buy shatter that previously would have been left on display.

And the chance of opening a clamshell of berries to find a moldy one is much greater than if they were buying bulk.

Convenience is also a difficult attribute. Bryan likes rigid packaging, but consumers tight on refrigerated space find it inconvenient to have a giant clamshell of grapes in the refrigerator half empty but still taking up its full allotment of space.

Few companies in the industry use their packaging effectively to promote the product and repeat consumption. No bag or clamshell should ever go out to consumers without recipes, nutritional information and website address for additional information.

Food safety isn’t only a matter of what goes on in the field. Too many people touching the produce can lead to adulteration, which means packaging is destined to increase in usage. We ought to work on doing it right.