Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/54939
finds marketing niche B New generation Consumer food interest is high, but knowledge, low. by Richard Lehnert efore joining the family business at Cashtown, Pennsylvania, Sidney Kuhn earned a degree in landscape architecture from North Carolina State University in 2001 and worked at a land conservancy that acquires development rights to keep land in farming. "In 2006, I asked my parents if I could come back home," said Sidney, who represents the fifth generation at Kuhn Orchards. Her parents, David and Mary Margaret Kuhn, had been working to get more of their fruit into fresh markets. They made a deal with their daughter. They formed a limited liability company, which Sidney owns, to market fresh fruit and vegetables at ten farmers' markets in northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Sidney pays her parents for the produce in the form of half the proceeds from the market. Her parents are con- tinuing the other parts of their orcharding business. They still grow some blocks of apples for processing, and they have a wholesale business selling high-quality fruit to vendors who are, essentially, following the same market- ing strategy Sidney does. Some 75 percent of their fruit is sold in this manner. During a visit to the farm in October, Good Fruit Grower asked her how much revenue a space in a farmers' market could generate over the May to November season. She thought a minute, then said, "They average about $60,000, but it varies a lot, especially between weekday and weekend markets, and new and well-established markets." She estimated that those who operate retail markets make about eight times as much revenue per unit as growers will get selling wholesale, and they'll get three times as much selling spot-picked, tree-ripe fruits to vendors who also frequent these upscale markets. Sidney, left, her father David, and Katy Lesser Clowney sort apples that have come back from the market unsold. They may go to Knouse Foods, the cider mill, or into the cull bin. The farm is smaller than it once was. At one time, it had 350 acres, including 150 acres in apples, 75 in peaches, and some in tart cherries. Most of the fruit went to Knouse Foods for processing. When Sidney's parents became the fourth generation to own the farm about 20 years ago, they realized that growing fruit for processing and wholesale was becom- ing less profitable, and they began selling fruit at tailgate farmers' markets. They began diversifying the produce line. Today, they grow 25 acres of apples, 60 acres of peaches and nectarines, and small acreages of strawber- ries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, apricots, plums, and cherries, as well as various vegetables and cut flowers. The Kuhn family still raises a few blocks of apples exclusively for processing, but Knouse serves now mainly as an outlet for less-than-fresh-market-quality fruit. Sidney says she needs to know about the production side of the business for marketing purposes, and likes orchard work, but has decided to put her energy into marketing. She has hired Katy Lesser Clowney, who once worked for the Adams County Extension office in Gettysburg and did much of the early testing work on the Darwin string thinner, as an assistant. The two of them, working together, organize all the people and products needed to attend ten farmers' markets each week. "Signage is very important," Sidney said. When you offer a lot of nice varieties that won't be found in many supermarkets, people have to be informed about what the variety is and why they want to try it. "We sample everything," she added. Three of their apple varieties fill a special niche—early- season sales. While vegetables are the opening items in May, they offer GoldRush, Pink Lady, and Fuji apples they FOOD ALLIANCE certifies eastern orchards ast year, Three Springs Fruit Farm, operated by Dave, John, and Ben Wenk in Aspers, Pennsylvania, was certified by Food Alliance. An Oregon-based organization, Food Alliance pro- vides third-party certification that sustainable agricultural and food handling practices are used in a farm's operation. L Since then, Food Alliance announced certification of two other eastern U.S. orchards that also grow fruit and sell it directly to customers through retail operations. The latest certification is of Barbour's Fruit Farm & Market, Biglerville, Pennsylvania. Stephanie and Lee Welty are fifth-generation farmers who took over management of the farm in 2008 and grow apples, peaches, cherries, pears, small fruits, and vegetables. Red Jacket Orchards in Geneva, New York, operated by the Nicholson family, with Brian Nicholson as president, was certified earlier. Unlike auditing programs that certify use of good agricultural practices that affect food safety, Food Alliance certification standards address social and environmental issues: safe and fair working conditions; use of integrated pest management practices; soil, water, and energy conservation; reduction of waste; and protection of wildlife habitat. It also requires evidence of continuous improvement in management practices. Food Alliance started in 1993 as a project of Oregon State University, Washington State University, and the Washington State Department of Agriculture. It was formally incorpo- rated in 1997 and began its certification program in 1998. Now, there are more than 320 certified farms and ranches in Canada and Mexico and in 23 states. In an interview with Good Fruit Grower last fall, Ben Wenk explained how Food Alliance certification helps Three Springs Fruit Farm sell fruits and vegetables. 16 FEBRUARY 15, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER "Customers want to know what we grow and how we grow it," Ben said. "The connec- tion with the grower is important—that's what they want. We were the first farm in the Mid-Atlantic states to be Food Alliance-certified." Besides using this connection on signage at the markets, Ben backs it up with informa- tion on the farm's Web site. He explains, in words and videos, the farm's growing prac- tices—IPM, food safety, pheromone mating disruption, biological control, bioremediation, why they use green manure instead of fumigation. He also explains why they are not organic—why organic works in the arid West but much less well in the humid East—and how they use IPM instead. He explains their rela- tionship with the researchers at Penn State and how they have intensified their use of IPM practices—mating disruption on apples and peaches, monitoring insect activity with pheromone traps, then using low-residue, lower toxicity spray materials. He also explains that they are in farming to stay. The Wenks sold development rights to their farm some years ago, restricting the land to agricultural production in perpetuity. Lee Welty, at Barbour's Fruit Farm, said people want to know what growers are doing to make a difference. "Earning Food Alliance certification proves that our farm is committed to sustainability as well as social and environmental responsibility." Food Alliance's Executive Director Scott Exo said that, increasingly, people want more information about how their food is grown and sold. "Farmers like the Weltys are responding in kind, managing their farms carefully, and backing up their social and environmental claims with third-party certification that independently verifies their management practices against stringent standards." —R. Lehnert www.goodfruit.com stored in their own controlled-atmosphere storage before the new crop is harvested. It might seem like finding a niche in a market would be difficult, but Sidney said she's usually invited by market masters seeking vendors. New markets keep popping up as the "buy local" "and "buy from a farmer you know" trends continue. She is pleased by people's new interest in their food but dismayed that people's knowledge about food seems to be falling even as their interest rises. Their misconceptions about production methods, including organic production, are huge, she said. The Kuhns hired a young man, Rusty Lamb, to manage production of both the orchards and the vegetables and small fruits. He works closely with Sidney to coordinate his activities with her marketing needs. They meet every Monday at 1 p.m. to discuss what will be available to sell; orchard blocks are repeatedly spot-picked to generate smaller quantities of many varieties, 15 or more at the height of the apple season. She says coordinating between orchard and market is challenging and critical. "If they ask, am I organic, I just say no. If they want a further explanation, I'll tell them how we grow our fruit. I don't need to apologize for the way I grow my fruit. I'm beyond that." Organic production in eastern states, with high humidity and rainfall and the pest pressures that come with that climate, is extremely difficult. The Kuhns use integrated pest management practices, like mating dis- ruption, to help control pests. Appearance of the brown marmorated stinkbug, and damage to the late-season apples in 2010, has caused them to shift to more targeted pesticides, tighter spray intervals, and more intensive spraying of orchard perimeter rows. • richard lehnert