Sea buckthorn is a plant that has been studied worldwide with focus on its taxonomy; its genetics; its agronomy; its processing; the potential benefits form its consumption and so on. For all of this it remains relatively unheard of in the UK. In the last decade cranberry, blueberry and pomegranate have come to the fore, but for why?
The sea buckthorn community globally focuses strongly on production; on the development of new varieties; on processing technique; on biochemistry within the berry and recent in the leaf. The crop is grown in Europe, but for local and national markets, with more significant crops in Asia also being focused upon internal not international markets. The UK is a country that imports most of its needs. Sea buckthorn has lost out to the US investment in cranberry, and pomegranate with blueberry emerging as a fruit that is now common as a fresh offering on supermarket shelves. A product will not develop unless it is available in consistent volume, quality and price. Mature competitive markets like the UK are also possibly supplied by risk averse companies who invest where they can calculate sales volumes rather than on whether they can develop markets.
But sea buckthorn has quality. It has centuries of traditional use. Its bioactive compound mix fits with market interest. Its taste is new, fresh and unique.
So how does one break into a market. The UK consumer is sophisticated, understands value, and has a level of cynicism about marketeers. The recession has been rolling from 2008 and product now has to deliver value for money and be affordable. Sea buckthorn is already in the marketplace and internet sites of Amazon and ebay offer price points that have discounts that one has to consider are not earning the seller much or any profit.
In such a market product is not unique. Product by name may vary in presentation, in composition and in price. Internet sales are not conventional retail outlets. The stark presentation of multiple sellers offering the same product at varied price stretches consumer loyalty to particular brand. But price is not everything. The debate about why so few people switch energy companies or banks is an example. Brands do make a difference because they are the guarantee of quality – of the delivery of consumer benefit – the same consumer benefit that when matched with consumer need creates a sale. It is the feeling of confidence in brand that creates repeat sales and that is the bond of trust that I would look for when selling a product.
A bond of trust comes from confidence and an understanding that the product delivers what it says it will.
With a natural product – or a product that has come from a natural not wholely manufactured environment, there are complications. The growing environment has many variables, many of which are difficult to predict or manage. These can and will alter the quality of a commodity. when we are looking at creating a product from a natural commodity that inherently has variable qualities this demands that the commodity is managed in such a way as to reduce the impact of these variables. It also demands that the supply chain that takes the grown commodity through to the consumer treats the product flow with the same attention to detail to nurture and protect the natural qualities that the consumer expects from the product.
This takes me to the title of this blog. Farming has been through a number of revolutions that have driven its productivity. Mechanisation; improving fertilisers; managing pests and diseases; better varieties and genetics all have led to this point in time.
The realisation that feeding the global population never used to be a problem is now changing. There is becoming less land available and productivity is not lifting sufficiently to meet the demands of the future.
The term sustainability used to be one that was the language of the environmentalist. It is now the language of the politician and policy maker. It is becoming a term that needs to convert into practical activity to create an equilibrium in the growing environment. An environment where the soil becomes a capital asset no different to money in the bank. The soil has the ability to add value to our agricultural management. It has the ability to reduce the impact of the variables that impact on our natural commodities. The variables that influence the qualities that consumers look for – or even demand when they look for product.
This is not easy. It is not a quick fix. For fifty years, maybe a hundred we have relied on easy gains from science and development. Now the stakes are higher and the needs are greater.
Delivering consistent quality in reliable quantity requires detailed understanding of the processes we manage. This understanding will take time, but time will deliver the knowledge necessary to improve quality.
Quality is a vague word but in the realm of food and diet we now know that quality does count. Obesity, diabetes, cardio vascular disease – all quantified as diseases with links to diet. Stress and lifestyle are other factors but coming back to agriculture and growers we need to understand the need to deliver not quantity into the market, but quantities of quality and meet needs that provide for the health of nations.
As a grower I am not a scientist. I do not have the knowledge nor facilities to undertake my own research that can hone my growing sea buckthorn crop into one that delivers the quality that I have written about. But I know my potential consumers will want to know my product is what is says it is. I also know that I need to be continually improving what I can offer based on understanding how to get the best out of a crop and what it can offer a customer.
Regulation will prevent me from describing the qualities I seek. But that should be no barrier to seeking knowledge and improving the offering to the consumer.
That is where seeking professional academic partnership becomes important. There has been some press recently regarding the bias that these partnerships might create. If a company pays a researcher to provide research does it corrupt the researcher? There are no guarantees that research results will provide what one wants to hear. If the product that is delivered through research that is poor and manipulated by marketing, the most significant test is whether the consumer and trade press will accept the research and the product as having the qualities it promotes. If research is peer reviewed it has value. it has value to the researcher to gain respect; it adds value to any resultant product to gain market trust; it create consumer loyalty to the brand of the company that brings the resultant product to market.
So coming back to sea buckthorn – to develop the market in a competitive world peer reviewed research is the key to success. It costs in time; in resources; in cashflow; but it will bring long term respect and relationship with market and consumer.