Helping Smaller Growers Build Better Consumer Connections
May 15, 2021 The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS) is tasked with addressing the needs and concerns of a wide range of horticulture companies. In many cases, the information it provides can go a long way in helping growers forge better connections with their customers.
Such is the case with two recent efforts. The first is aimed at small-scale grower operations that are often challenged by access to large markets and limits on resources. In urban and rural environments, the challenges that emerged from COVID-19 brought small-scale farms to light.
Having an edge in e-commerce post-COVID-19 has presented a new set of challenges for growers of all types and sizes. Specifically, for small-scale growers who consequently play a large role in local economies, the challenges can make or break their business and impact the local urban and rural communities they serve.
In the works is a new bilingual program designed by a team at UF-IFAS. The team intends to arm small-scale growers with the tools to access marketing and business options.
“We aim to provide them with the tools and knowledge that will remove barriers to diversifying their marketing channels, help manage risk that can, in turn, increase their sales to higher-value markets, and provide consumers with better access to high-quality fruits and vegetables,” says Trent Blare, an assistant professor in food and resource economics at the UF-IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center.
Read more about this new program here.
The second occurred before Mother’s Day, but it’s a story that can be told year-round. Most growers are already aware of the years of research and trialing that takes place before plants eventually show up on store shelves. Consumers, however, do not always know that story, which is where UF-IFAS has stepped in.
“I like breeding coleus because we have a continuous pipeline of new genetics and access to all major markets, so what we do this year is usually on the market within two to three years,” says David Clark, a coleus breeder for UF-IFAS. “We estimate that our plants have created almost $500 million in farm-gate value (value of the product as it’s sold at the nursery). The best part, to me, is that I see them everywhere I go during the summer.”
Clark was one of three ornamental scientists featured recently through the UF-IFAS Communications team. Check out the full story here, and consider how you might work with your plant suppliers to tell the same story to your customers.
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