PMA president Bryan Silbermann has stressed the need for fresh produce companies to focus proactively on communicating their long-term points of differentiation, and avoid being sucked into fad-based promotions.

Silbermann’s “The State of the Industry 2005” presentation, during the association’s Fresh Summit in Atlanta, told the industry: “Do not react to crazes. We must compete on what makes us better, not the trend of the month.”

With lo-carb just one of the multitude of diet trends to have risen and then disappeared from the public conscience, he predicted there might just be one “real diet trend” that is patiently awaiting its turn - vegetarianism. “While consumers are quick to jump on the latest fad, vegetarianism has been making steady progress over a long period,” he said. “It is a trend that will continue to grow; consumers who want to eat a mainly vegetarian diet and also support their local producers are increasing and becoming more influential.”

To reach these consumers effectively and to increase value to customers, Silbermann said “knowledge will become the defining factor” for companies in the industry. “What you know is as important as what you grow,” he said. “And sharing that information will become essential.”

He added that inconsistency of taste is “the major barrier” facing fresh produce traders attempting to increase consumption of their products. Improving the uniformity of taste performance is key to winning the fight against “the perception that healthy food does not mean tasty food”, he said. The produce industry is losing that battle at the moment, he said, adding that some would argue it has not even entered the war.

One major section of the population - and the section that holds the aces for future generations of fresh produce suppliers - is being let down, according to Silbermann. The industry is being badly beaten in the marketing-to-children stakes by high-calorie, low-nutrient junk foods, he said.

The US has led the world in the dietary habit changes that have seen the phrase “globesity” coined in the last couple of months. Consumers, children included, “are no longer shopping for food, but for experiences”, he said. If the globesity epidemic and the industry’s belief in its own obligation to the future of its country’s consumers is not enough, Silbermann suggested that the pure business argument should convince people.

“Children are an enormously profitable market across a wide range of industries. They are also major influencers of household purchases, particularly food. If we reach this market now, while they are still young, we are building a base for enormous revenue potential for the future, as well as much healthier adults in the future.”