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Copyright 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
July 31, 2002 Wednesday Home Edition SECTION: News; Pg. 1A
SERIES: Considering the source
HEADLINE: Considering the source / Fourth in a series: Campaign aims to keep Georgia produce on buyers' minds
BYLINE: ELIZABETH LEE
During prime harvest season for Georgia peaches, metro Atlanta supermarkets ran ads for the seasonal favorite --- trucked in from California.
A new campaign hopes to persuade shoppers and supermarket produce buyers to put the peach back in the Peach State, as well as the blueberries, carrots and squash.
Georgia Grown, fertilized with $2.1 million in federal funds, wants to spread the word that the best-tasting, freshest fruits and vegetables come from nearby farms, where they reach store shelves quickly.
Louise Sapp of Hinesville needs no coaxing. She makes a 60-mile round trip to pick up just-harvested peaches at a southeast Georgia orchard because she prefers their taste. "They're better," Sapp said. "You don't get them this good at the store. They mostly have California peaches. You can't get good Georgia peaches."
Georgia Grown wants to convert more shoppers to Sapp's way of thinking. Like similar programs in Tennessee and Florida, Georgia Grown aims to establish an identity for agricultural products --- Georgia ranks fifth in the nation in the production of fruits and vegetables --- and increase demand, both inside and outside of the state.
If consumers heed the message, increased sales will ripple through the state's economy, from retailers to farmers, says Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.
Early indications signal shoppers are listening. Produce sales increased 6 percent over the previous year at Kroger stores participating in a smaller Grown in Georgia promotion last summer.
The success of the current campaign, which features TV commercials, billboards and colorful recipe brochures in several supermarket chains, is being assessed.
"You can see what Vidalia has done with Vidalia onions," said Hall, of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. "It became known by consumers nationwide that it is a specific product, and it has a certain quality to it. That's part of the concept behind Georgia Grown."
Farmers in southwest Georgia's Decatur County also are looking to the Vidalia onion for inspiration. They've formed a cooperative, Flint River Valley Farms, to market their produce and find ways to distinguish it from competitors. Armed with laboratory tests that show their cantaloupes are sweeter than ones from Florida or Western states, they designed labels with the co-op's name that play up the melons' sweetness.
But persuading shoppers to pick up a Georgia squash rather than a Florida one, for example, may not be as easy as it sounds. In fact, consumers may not even have a choice. A supermarket produce buyer making purchases for stores in several states juggles many factors, from price to availability to quality. Playing to in-state loyalties may be less important.
Often, Georgia peaches are mingled with South Carolina fruit in a bin with a sign that says: "Southern peaches."
"One of the biggest problems we have is trying to get stores to identify the Georgia Grown products," said Harvey Robertson, with Atlanta-based T&T Advertising and Promotions, which is handling the campaign. "That's because they've got them coming from all over the place."
Shoppers generally believe produce from Georgia farms is likely to be fresher and taste better, according to a survey from the University of Georgia's Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. If local produce were competitively priced and similar in quality, 94 percent of shoppers said they would be more likely to buy it.
Consumers also believe local produce has a longer shelf life, since the time from field to supermarket bin is usually a couple of days, compared to double or triple that time from the West Coast or other countries.
Yet there's a limit to shoppers' loyalty. Suburban buyers were less likely than other groups to say they'd switch grocery stores to buy Georgia-grown vegetables, perhaps because many of them have moved from elsewhere, said Kent Wolfe, a marketing analyst with the university's Center for Agribusiness.
Establishing a reputation for quality might be the key to increasing demand, and that's where efforts to create a brand name come into play.
"If we can get people eating better-tasting produce and they start looking for the brand, they start paying more for that brand name," said Eddie McGriff, Decatur County extension coordinator.
Al Pearson, owner of Big 6 Farm in Fort Valley and chairman of the Georgia Commodity Commission for Peaches, admits that while he can tell a Southern peach from a California one, even he can't find much difference between one from Georgia and one from South Carolina.
Still, he thinks the Georgia Grown campaign is a good way to make shoppers and produce buyers aware of what's available locally and how much fresher it is than fruit and vegetables that spend several days on a truck.
"It's no miracle cure," Pearson said. "We still have to earn our stripes and put the right product on the shelves."
Last Revised: September 5, 2002
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