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Piracicaba, 12 - HF Brasil interviews Elena Ozeritskaya *, in the March issue, about consumption trends targeting fruit and vegetables sector. Check the opportunities she highlighted:
Hortifruti Brasil: Generation Y (or Millennials) shall be 34% of the global population by 2020. How can this generation, that is more educated, assertive and IT-oriented, impact fruit and vegetables purchases in the coming years?
Elena Ozeritskaya: Millennials are the biggest generation compared to all the others, like Baby Boomers and Generation X, and they have quite different kinds of needs and habits. Looking at the generation Y, for them, of course, social media is their 6th sense, so they are very much into what people say about brands and products. So, it is not anymore about what you say about your brand, it is about what other people say like they go on TripAdvisor and all kinds of other sites, where they look for reviews. I think that we need to take it much more into account, as produce companies and growers, and that for you to see also more and more brands popping up. Because I do believe that this is now the time that you can develop interesting brands, and what you see is also that growers are developing more interesting brands. I have some nice examples from the Netherlands, where we have brands like “Tasty Tom” or brands are “Van looije tomatoes” that are creating very nice packaging, and creating a luxury brand around a product like tomatoes, and that is very appealing for consumers. And what I also like about this grower (Van looije) is that they have the fresh produce brand but they also have it in processed. So, what they do with waste and with products that are out of scope for the Van looije fresh produce brand - they put it in ketchup. So, I think this kind of things are very appealing for this young Generation that is looking for social media presents, looking for adventurous tastes, looking for authenticity, looking for convenience, and also looking for environmental friendly sustainable produce. I think we need to do everything for this Generation. It is not only about delivering for example organic (because they are also very much into organic), but organic combining with convenience, with some adventurous tastes and with sustainable elements in terms of packaging. It is ticking all the boxes and that is a new way of thinking for the industry and also for the growers, where opportunities are there as well to develop consumer brands that appeal to them.
HF Brasil: How can Brazilian growers prepare themselves to supply fruit and vegetables to this Generation?
Elena: It is to think more in concepts, in what kind of concepts would this Generation look for. That is why I also guide companies and I help companies together with consumers and other players in the chain to co-create concepts that are appealing for the end-consumers, where you combine different things such as taste, sustainability, organic, as exciting concepts of social media etc, and also brands in the end. It is combining a lot of things and co-creating together with consumers and players in the chain to be successful.
HF Brasil: And what about other generations, such as children (consumers in training) and people over 50? Is it necessary to create exclusive products and marketing campaigns regarding them?
Elena: Yes, I do believe that there are also different needs for kids and for the Baby Boomers, and maybe heath claims and health benefits can be more appealing to them. I focus my keynotes on Generation Y, because they are the biggest one, and they are the ones with more changes in attitudes and behavior, and are influencing other generations (like Facebook - they are using Facebook and now people over 50 are using it, too). So, they are influencers – that is why they are an interesting group to target. When you are targeting the Generation Y (Millennials), then you need to combine with adventures, with convenience etc; and for people over 50, organic is more combined with authenticity and health benefits, and is more eco friendly and they can “look and feel”. So, there are quite different needs and attitudes when you look at different groups, but there are also some commonalities that you could use in your concepts. Therefore, it is necessary to always look at the different groups, but I do believe that the Generation Y is the most influencing for all the groups and the most interesting one to focus on.
HF Brasil: Mindfulness is the word for 2018, according to several news reports. How can we translate this trend to the fruit and vegetables business? And what do Brazilian growers need to do to catch up with this new demand?
Elena: I think the mindful concepts as the ugly fruit and vegetables that are sold are quite appealing to consumers. Moreover, there this concept called “KromKommer”: it is a Dutch concept, it is a brand of soup, which they use products that they would normally throw away because maybe they are not in uniformity etc. Being mindful is a key to success for lots of concepts such as the ugly fruit and the “KromKommer” soup. It is a mindset for different generations, like Baby Boomers and people over 50, but also for the kids and the Generation Y, so it is a common thing that you as a producer or as a retailer can build on in those concepts, for sure.
HF Brasil: Food e-commerce and other uses of technology in purchasing is a huge trend for 2018. In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge that Brazilian producers will face to attend this trend?
Elena: Yes, it can be a challenge but it can also be an opportunity. The Generation Y wants to access food as fast as they access a series on Netflix. They want things on demand. They are changing how everything is going on in terms of buying food. Other generation went to the supermarket and buy food, but they (Millennials) want the food to come to them where they are during the day, so during commuting etc – so you see more and more “on the go” formats. Then, you see more and more of food delivery services in Europe, such as “Foodora” and “UberEats”, in which they deliver produce, meals and even coffee to your doorstep. These kinds of concepts are hitting off and they are competing with the traditional retail. Moreover, there is Picnic (a company in the Netherlands) and they deliver your groceries at no cost at your doorstep, so you do not even have to go outside anymore to get your groceries in. I guess that more and more players will be coming in how to sell to the consumers and they need to connect to them as well - like players such as Picnic, that buy through retailers, but also directly from the growers, but also players like “Hello Fresh”, that deliver fresh ingredients at home with recipes so that you can create meals at home. So, there are a lot of different new kinds of players coming up and I think growers need to figure out how they can “play a role” in that, and not only in the more traditional channels. These channels will have a hard time in the future, because, as Generation Y says “if it is not fun, no experience, if is not memorable, if it is not meaningful, why bother and going out there? I can just buy through the internet and get it delivered at home, in the office etc.”. Going to retail and shopping should be a really great experience – you learn things, you get inspired, you learn more about cooking or things like that, and if it is not there, than why go out there? I do believe that players in the chains need to figure out how they play a role in this new kind of selling to new concepts and new formats, and maybe they can create even their own concepts and formats. Because what we see in Europe is called the food assembly, where growers sell directly to the consumers. It works as following: the consumers can order online the produce and every week there is one farmer’s market, where the consumers can pick up their products, meet the growers, talk about the varieties and learn about the produce. This concept is really growing very fast in Europe, and it is a win-win, given that it is combining technology with authenticity of meeting the growers. This is getting popular and can also be created by producers themselves.
*Elena Ozeritskaya is founder of Fresh Insight and specialist in Customer Insight. During her time at Unilever and Syngenta she was responsible for driving innovative projects with customer insight and in collaboration with consumers. Among other projects, she was involved from inception to launch using customer insight to develop Syngenta’s “Sweet & Seedless snack pepper” which won the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award in 2012. She founded Fresh Insight (www.fresh-insight.eu) in 2012 with the mission to support companies in the development of Customer Insight and to stimulate Co-Creation. She is a keynote speaker on consumer and megatrends in food and flowers, inspiring companies to get closer to their customers and to end-consumers.
Source: hfbrasil.org.br
