Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/751050
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2016 29 making things from individual ingredients rather than from packages. (Who can forget Hamburger Helper?) But the difference is, young people also want food quicker; they don't want to take hours making a meal. Hulett said in the 1940s, a cook at home spent 150 minutes on average making dinner. Today the average is 15 minutes. So how does the scratch cook today make things fast? By using fewer ingredients, "pre-prepped" foods, simple recipes and cleaner living, said Hulett. The third trend is fresh food. Today's shopping cart has a much higher percentage of fresh produce rather than packaged food. Freshness is key. "Local" is an important part of fresh perception. Serving both "local" and "value" sentiments is a small movement called Ugly Produce. To serve this niche, Wal-Mart is trying this category where there is availability and value to custom- ers with "imperfect" apples and gnarly potatoes called "Spuglies." Hulett's fourth trend is the time factor, getting quality food quicker. How does that play out? One way is the "grocerant," the mini restaurant you can find inside a supermarket such as Whole Foods. Hulett said a further evolution is the grocery store that enables online ordering of groceries and a near-instant pickup by the consumer. Technology coordinates the customer order, the gather- ing of items and delivery to the customer whose arrival is "announced" by, say, the consumer's smart phone. Wal- Mart and Amazon have both launched services like this, which appeals to a parent who may have a sleeping baby along and doesn't want to get out of the car. This trend is one reason you'll see a slowdown in construction of new stores, said Hulett. Hulett's fifth trend is the foodie culture. Younger consumers may not have a lot of excess income but they insist on quality food where taste is an experience. This helps explain the added popularity of an apple variety such as Honeycrisp versus Red Delicious, as well as the club variety explosion. Honeycrisp fetches a premium price even though it's not the best looking apple. The crunch, taste and experience of a Honeycrisp excites people. Hulett said Honeycrisp has brought more people back to eating apples. Foodies will also pay more if a purchase resonates with values. Certainly, Starbucks makes a fortune by marketing their $3 lattes as the product of sustainable agriculture. Hulett said while earlier generations focused on cost, younger consumers have different motivations. "They want to buy products where they know the origin and that the farmer is taking care of the land, taking care of the people," said Hulett. They are willing to pay a pre- mium to get that. "If they know that a farmer is doing a good job con- tributing to the environment, is concerned about water use, labor, health and future generations — that means something to them," he said. Hulett's message to growers is to think how their own practices meet the new demands. Growers will need to make sure horticulture practices match this ethic in provable ways, because if consumers find out they aren't getting the truth, they can punish via social media. This is one reason why Wal-Mart and others conduct audits to verify growing practices. Growers also need to help tell their own stories, working even more with marketing people, so consumers know how food is grown, who grows it and feel a connection to the farm. For growers, it certainly means work, but it pays off with a powerful connection between grower and buyer. "Everyone has to move in that direction because we all want new customers and repeat purchases," said Hulett. • COURTESY OF MIKE HULETT Younger consumers "want to buy products where they know the origin and that the farmer is taking care of the land, taking care of the people," says Mike Hulett, senior fresh merchant for Wal-Mart. He is one of the featured speakers at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association annual meeting in Wenatchee this month. www.CertisUSA.com © 2016 Certis USA CYD-X ® and CYD-X ® HP for codling moth control Cueva ® and Double Nickel ® for fi re blight control Deliver ® and Agree ® for leaf roller protection Certis USA expresses our gratitude to the growers and members of the agricultural industry who have supported our products over the years.