Synthesis Agri-Food Insights
September 9, 2009 Volume 1, Issue 4
Helping you understand agriculture's challenges and
opportunities by analyzing the issues and sharing their insights - the Synthesis consulting team Rob Hannam, Mary Lou McCutcheon, Julien DenTandt, Peter Hannam and Heidi
Dancho.
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Battling agri-food's bad PR
It hasn't been a good year for the agri-food industry on the
public relations front. This spring, it was the movie Food Inc., and an
anti-meat poster campaign in Toronto's public transit system. And last month, a
hard-hitting cover story in Time magazine and a not-so-pleasant opinion piece
in the New York Times grabbed peoples' attention. All were extremely negative
and sharply critical of modern agriculture and the way it produces the cheap,
plentiful food we all count on.
In general, agriculture has made a habit of defending its
practices through the use of science and economics. In our consumer-is-king,
social media dominated world, that just doesn't cut it any more, says Rob
Hannam, President of Synthesis Agri-Food Consulting.
"We aren't being as responsive as we could be to consumer
demands," he says, "so these articles, books and movies lashing out at
agriculture are consumers' response to us."
Hannam cites a recent experience he had while waiting in
line at the airport in Washington DC that emphasized the wide gulf between different
groups of consumers that agriculture has to try to satisfy. A young couple - she,
an urban lawyer who makes her own baby food and refuses to even shop at Whole
Foods because she feels its food offerings aren't of high enough standard; he,
a Kansas farm boy with an "all beef, all the time" mindset.
"As farmers and food producers, we need to serve both of
these consumers and everyone in between. I don't think we're reaching all the
various types of consumers adequately," he says. "There are opportunities for
us to build dialogue to engage many different types of consumers and let them
know who we are, what we do, and why we do it. There is also an opportunity for
different products and brands to meet the needs and wants of the consumer of
the future. "
And there are lessons to be learned from the bad PR being
lobbed agriculture's way, says Hannam, urging the industry to look closely and
objectively at the criticism flowing out of this recent spate of articles,
films and books.
"Let's not dismiss the criticism just because we don't like
hearing it," he says. "Perhaps there ARE changes that we should be making".
Insights - So what
does this all mean?
Explain, explain,
explain: We need to do a better job of explaining what we do on our farms
and why we do it. This means:
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Go beyond
the science. Consumers want to know how the science impacts them, not what the
science is. If there are good reasons for farmers to do certain things - such
as use biotech crops - we need to explain what the implications and
consequences for all consumers are if those practices aren't used.
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Use emotion so that we connect with people. The majority of
consumers are interested in learning more about where their food comes from.
Choose spokespeople who can get their points across easily and simply, which
sometimes are not necessarily those who are in positions of authority.
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Deliver
the message in a relevant way. The leading sources of information consumers use
are television, newspapers and the internet.
Self-monitoring:
Don't dismiss criticisms of our industry just because we don't like to hear it.
Yes, much of it is fear-mongering by activists with an agenda, but we can't
ignore the fact that there might be some valid reasons for their opposition.
Consumers are holding us to a high standard and we need to live up to that standard
to maintain their trust. This means we need to work harder to police ourselves
and clean up our act where needed or it will be done for us through legislation
or consumer backlash.
Offering choice:
Responding to consumer demands and feedback is important and can lead to new opportunities.
We are seeing a proliferation of brands and choices in our grocery stores, but
this is just the beginning. There is still a significant opportunity for those
who can look across the spectrum of consumers and capitalize on serving their
various needs and wants of the future.
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Sincerely,
Rob, Mary Lou, Peter, Julien and Heidi
Synthesis Agri-Food Consulting
"Our Passion is Problem Solving"
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