NOVEMBER 2012
CELEBRATING 132 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
VOLUME 62 NUMBER 11
TRENDS
Flexitarians move vegetables to center plate KAREN DAVIDSON Trust McCain’s to make a rock star out of a root vegetable. A year ago, its tongue-in-cheek advertisement about a sweet potato farmer won kudos from the marketing experts. Peter Van Berlo could easily have stepped into that TV role with the line, “Whoa, this ain’t no romance novel, it’s just a sweet potato.” After all, he and his son Pete Jr. grow 800 acres of the orange-fleshed tuber near Simcoe, Ontario. They’ve found the ‘sweet spot,’ producing a vegetable that’s in demand for local markets as well as processing. For McCains, the advertising has also paid off handsomely with sweet potato fries doubling in sales. Was it just savvy marketing or did McCain’s take advantage of a deeper trend? The NPD group which tracks consumer behavior and purchasing data, says the food processor tapped into a rich vein of consumer needs: taste, convenience and a health halo. On average, Canadians consume vegetables 517 times per year says Joel Gregoire, NPD Group. Adults, aged 65 plus, are the heaviest consumers of vegetables eating them on average 650 times in the 12 months ending March 2012. “As boomers age,” says Gregoire,“vegetable consumption may benefit from this demographic shift.” Boomers -- those born between
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Vegetables are getting a makeover with new varieties and new uses. Sweet potatoes are a tasty trend, with their beta-carotene giving frozen fries a health halo. Other vegetables such as kale are kicking up the leafy greens category a notch. Just two weeks ago, workers were harvesting sweet potatoes – 800 acres in all – at Peter Van Berlo’s farm, Simcoe, Ontario. Photos by Glenn Lowson.
1946 and 1964 -- are likely cooking for both meat eaters and vegetarians in their families or quite simply, they are eating less meat. Not hard-core vegetarians, these are what co-author Nettie Cronish describes as mindful meat eaters in her 2011 cookbook: Everyday Flexitarian. They are looking for vegetable variety to combine with grains and sometimes, a side dish of meat. Extension of the vegetable category is good news for major grocers and buyers at the Ontario Food Terminal. For example, the potato category is broader with sweet potatoes, red-skinned potatoes and mini-potatoes while beets are more interesting with golden and striped varieties. Lewis Collins, a buyer for Stronach & Sons for almost 40 years, says volume in vegetables has increased in the last decade. Population growth is clearly driving volume, but there’s also a demand for local and first-of-theseason.
“I can’t believe how kale has taken off in the last five years,” says Collins. “For us, it’s 100 cases per day.” One of his major suppliers is Riga Farms which grows 200 acres of leafy greens and root vegetables in the Holland Marsh, north of Toronto. “I feel kale has taken over from collards,” says Gionvanni Riga. “There’s been gradual growth in kale, Swiss chard, dandelion. Even bok choy has almost become a commodity.” Part of the flexitarian trend is driven by a more diverse South American and Asian population seeking new herbs as well as vegetables. “Cilantro has become massive in popularity,” says Riga. That said, Collins warns that growers shouldn’t make any major shift in planting intentions without direct signals from buyers. “Twelve bunches of red beets may sell for $16 and the same number of golden beets may sell for $20, but it’s easy to
depress the market,” says Collins. “I don’t want an overabundance of golden beets, for example.” Packaging of traditional vegetables is also changing to meet demands of shifting demographics. As the 2011 Canadian census revealed, there are 5.6 million single households which aren’t in the market for a 10-pound bag of potatoes. The opportunity for growers is to pack one-pound bags of root vegetables to that segment of the population, says Jamie Reaume, executive director, Holland Marsh Growers’ Association. He’s pushing for consumer campaigns that teach how to be a “seasonal eater” with local food. More needs to be done in educating consumers how to prepare, cook and store produce such as nappa cabbage and tomatillos. The vegetable category, today, is much more exciting yet more consumer research needs to be done on what motivates purchase decisions.
“About 15 per cent of the population loves to cook and enjoys vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus,” says Paula Brauer, a University of Guelph nutrition expert and research coordinator. “Another 30 per cent are driven by convenience, so frozen potatoes and mixed vegetables are common fare. The remainder has an ambivalent attitude towards vegetables, eating a mixture.” The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Grower’s Association (OFVGA) is helping to fund consumer research at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Are recipes the ideal driver for the cooking enthusiasts? Are ‘apps’ a better way to encourage the time-challenged? Would zucchini be more appealing packaged with stir-fry ingredients like red peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes?
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