Berries in Focus: Roberta Cook to Unveil In-Depth Data Dive At
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From the pages of Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit What do you do when you have a superstar who both brings in the box office and wins critical acclaim each film that gets made? You sign her up for the sequel of course! So, when we had the chance to get Roberta Cook to do an in-depth research project on fresh berries and reveal a European Perspective in Amsterdam and an American twist at The Global Trade Symposium in New York, we committed quickly. Roberta has given incisive data-rich presentations that not only wowed the attendees but turned out to be deeply useful. We chronicled these presentations in pieces such as these: Superstar Roberta Cook Guides London Produce Show Attendees On NAFTA, The Impact Of Trade And The Perils That Lie Ahead Will Amazon Outgrow Tesco And Carrefour? Dr. Roberta Cook Will Present Comprehensive Data And Analyze Worldwide Retail And Produce Trends All At The London Produce Show And Conference The Intersection Of Technology And Trade: At Global Trade Symposium Roberta Cook Of UC Davis Talks About Mexico’s Broadening Role In A Diversified Global Market Dr. Roberta Cook Will Talk About Increasing Produce Consumption At Global Trade Symposium Riding The Roller Coaster: Roberta Cook Of UC Davis Explains How Economic Fluctuations Create Marketing Opportunities. We asked Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott to find out what Roberta had in store for us in Amsterdam: FreshFruitPortal.com Roberta Cook, PhD Founder, Fresh Produce Marketing Consulting, Dixon, California, Cooperative Extension Marketing Economist Emerita Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California, Davis Q: At the Amsterdam Produce Show, you will be presenting a powerful assessment of the international berry market, and, in particular, how new emerging sources for blueberries will significantly disrupt traditional market supply, and in turn, retail shelves. As global competition heats up, will you be steering retailers to realign buying strategies to maximize opportunities and returns in their produce departments? How will this rile production/supply channels? What changes could occur in product availability, quality, and varietal options to satisfy consumer demand of this popular category? A: I am excited about this topic for all these points and questions you raise. As we all know, berry consumption is growing globally, and there’s a lot of interest in it. Since I’ve worked on the topic in the past (just not with respect to the European market), I’ve been able to work up a good story that probably hasn’t been summarized before. I’m preparing my talk targeted to European retail buyers and suppliers to the European Market in attendance at the Show. A few weeks ago, I got the latest IRI scanner data for the berry category in the Netherlands. It shows rapid growth, which is helpful to demonstrate the trend that is happening throughout Europe. Q: Familiar with your intense research and information-packed talks, as well as our pre- Show interviews for our New York and London venues, I know there will much to absorb. FreshFruitPortal.com So let’s dive right in…You have chosen to hone in on the global dynamics of a specific commodity — Highbush fresh blueberries, and within that, potential impacts to the European market. I imagine the domino effects that ripple across the entire supply chain create a phenomenon that is not unique to blueberries, and attendees will have many lessons to glean from your talk as always... A: I am providing some topline highlights of berry category trends in key production regions like Spain, Chile, Morocco, Peru, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico and the U.S. At the same time, I am excluding countries with large production but who are not servicing Europe; for example, Turkey, which is a huge player in strawberries, but sends the product mainly to Russia. Blueberries will be a main focus, since they are the most internationally traded berry, and new sources of supply are emerging, such as in Peru and Mexico. But I decided to start my initial work on this from the broader berry perspective and see where it would take me. Q: Where did it take you? A: Right away, I reached out to industry experts seeking data to try to firm up the story. It is very challenging because the various data systems can be quirky, and the numbers are not always consistent when comparing different sources or the codes don’t match up. The trends are there, but trying to put the data into the charts like I normally do has been extra challenging. Q: So, this information you’ll be revealing in your talk has never been presented in this way before? This exemplifies why you bring such exceptional value to the industry… A: Through my extensive research, I’ve learned a lot about looking at the global berry market, and I think it will be useful to people. There are four main berries with all different markets and sources of supply around the world. Berries are challenging from a data perspective, because they are relatively new in many countries, and so therefore, there have not been official data sources. Even in the U.S., the data we have for blackberries and raspberries has never been very good, while the data for strawberries is much better. The Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) of the USDA produces these annual GAIN reports for crops important in exports to U.S. markets, looking in detail at what is going on in that country. Recently it started one for Peru, which shows how new the market is, and a year ago FAS did the first one for Spain, but I’m not very confident in the data because it hasn’t been updated since… FreshFruitPortal.com The general point is that it shows the newness of some of these export industries because it’s only recently that people have started to take a look at them. Q: Are there reports you can point to with confidence on the data sets? A: On blueberries, there is a big exception because there is this powerful international blueberry organization, IBO. IBO really respects the understanding that many blueberry industry players have on so many continents that this is an expanding market, and supply is increasing very rapidly because of large plantings in areas like Peru. Therefore, they have to get a handle on what is happening with the rate of expansion of supply relative to demand. The IBO is a great example to cite. It would be wonderful if something similar existed for strawberries and blackberries and raspberries. Q: So the IBO conducts its own research? A: It’s called the Global Blueberries Statistics and Intelligence Report and comes out annually, most recently in April 2017, with data for 2016. Cort Brazelton does the report, and there are two other authors. Cort and his brother run Fall Creek Farm & Nursery in Eugene, Oregon, and they are producing many of the blueberry plants that are planted internationally. They are developing many of the plant materials people need to put all this new acreage in the ground. They have tremendous knowledge on production and contacts with grower organizations that are being created. Their report is true market intelligence, from people on the ground, as opposed to just relying on some third party data source you can’t verify. IBO funds the report. The board of the organization made the decision to make the investment a few years ago. However, production statistics are often unreliable and not accurate for blueberries because production is still relatively small. It’s not a perfect process, even on the ground. It is good to highlight that this report involves a tremendous investment; I’m sure it costs a lot to produce it, but it is really important to producers and marketers. FreshFruitPortal.com It makes sense now that raspberries and blackberries are more internationally traded to make a similar investment to monitor the evolution of their industries. Q: What has come out of your investigative digging that will be of most interest to Amsterdam Produce Show attendees? A: I want to give an overview of the U.S. fresh berry industry, because it’s one of the biggest in the world in terms of bulk production and consumption. Consumption of berries in Europe is lagging compared to the U.S. and also consumption in Asia and other parts of the world is lagging compared to the U.S. Q: Will the U.S. gain more of a stake in the European berry market? A: The U.S. tends to focus more on the domestic market than exports for berries. Because demand is increasing in other parts of world, you would think there might be opportunity for U.S. exporters. European retail chains are interested in U.S. berries, and I have gotten inquiries on that as they’ve tried to increase their supply. I’m not sure how much opportunity the U.S. will have in the expanding market in the EU because of the positions of their regions, but I’ll go into more detail on that later. Europe is supplied much more within its own hemisphere. Obviously, Spain is the leader in supplying the European market, and then Morocco and South Africa are developing markets as well. The good news is berry demand is increasing fast globally for all the berries. Since most attendees will be European retailers, I will be focusing on what will be of most interest to them, highlighting the fact that berries are growing very rapidly in the EU, but this is happening not just in Europe but in Asia and other global regions as well.