Reading Time: 4 minutes Long warm days call for cool refreshing treats such as ice cream. One afternoon I was enjoying a milky bar — ignoring the calories and savouring the apparent goodness — when I glanced at the ingredients on the box. Sugar, fat, cholesterol in mind-numbing percentages were accepted — with a good dose of guilt. What […] Read more
An unsettling discovery via a cool summer treat
Who would have guessed that propylene glycol is a permitted ingredient in a food product?
Consumers driving changes in the food sector
Transparency in food labelling and no GMOs are among the top consumer food trends
Reading Time: 2 minutes The relationship between consumers and their food is no longer ‘from field to fork,’ says the former VP of innovation for Loblaws. “It’s actually from fork to field,” said Paul Uys, who spoke at the Conference on Food Innovation in late May. “Consumers are increasingly driving the food supply chain. It’s all about connecting with […] Read more
Organic is booming — and the push is on to get more growers
Demand for organic grain is growing at a sizzling pace and the sector fears it will lose market share if it can’t up production
Reading Time: 4 minutes Steven Snider was just 16 years old when he realized conventional farming wasn’t for him. “I was spraying a wild oat herbicide on a field, and I got drift poisoning,” said the Edberg-area farmer and owner of Little Red Hen Mills. “For three days, I was sick as a dog. That kind of changed my […] Read more
Constant change is the only sure thing in the food business
The environment was once the big thing, but then came animal welfare, local, gluten free, additives, food safety and more
Reading Time: 4 minutes The ‘mobile global food table’ is a phrase I use to capture the constant shift in consumer trends and food demand. I picture it as a round table without edges that can be placed indoors or out. Sometimes there are chairs and sometimes there are chopsticks. Always there is change. I’ve taken notes over the […] Read more
Things have changed in the boardroom of big corporations
Consumers are voting with their wallets, and big companies understand they need to move quickly when issues arise
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are farm, environmental and consumer groups that advocate the elimination of the corporate agenda. They say corporations drive the family farm to ruin, destroy the air that we breathe, and force consumerism at the expense of human rights. In Canada, 98 per cent of farms are family farms and of the 200,000 farms in […] Read more
Three key questions every entrepreneur should ask about their customers
While there are market tools out there, there's one sure-fire method to get market information
Reading Time: 2 minutes Who are your customers? This simple question is often one of the most challenging for most entrepreneurs, says a new venture specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Not everyone is a potential customer,” said Christine Anderson. “The more specific you can be in clearly identifying who your ideal or target customer is, and the […] Read more
Face the facts — trust trumps science for many consumers
And the key to building trust, says expert Charlie Arnot, is to show that farmers are transparent and share the same values as consumers
Reading Time: 4 minutes When it comes to talking about agriculture, a “just the facts” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. Attitudes towards the food industry have changed and those in agriculture have to adopt new tactics to reach out to consumers, said Charlie Arnot of the Center for Food Integrity. “People are fundamentally more skeptical about food than ever […] Read more
Clinging to old ways doesn’t work in a rapidly changing world
The beef industry needs to supply what consumers want, support innovation, and encourage new entrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes I’ve long said that the money in the beef industry comes from providing value as the customer defines it. That statement has several sides, of course. It means we value add, which is true. But it also came into play as consumers demanded beef labelled hormone and antibiotic free, local, grass fed, fresh or organic. […] Read more
Tips on reaching out to consumers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Here are some of Julie Borlaug’s tips for reaching out to consumers. Watch your language Some words commonly used on farms have hugely negative connotations for urbanites, she said. “The moment we talk about how GMOs will lessen the amount of inputs such as pesticides or herbicides, you have shut the conversation down. I know […] Read more
Farmers key in effort to win hearts and minds of consumers
American expert says the public tunes out scientists, so it’s up to producers to convince consumers that they produce safe, wholesome food
Reading Time: 3 minutes Like it or not, it’s up to you, farmers. Producers must lead the line in the battle to convince consumers that GM crops, pesticides, and other ag technologies are good things, FarmTech attendees were told. “We in the ag sector have made a big mistake in not getting in front of this,” said Julie Borlaug, […] Read more
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