Key elements in selling your product are promotion, packaging and presentation. Organic products generally command a premium in the marketplace. Consumers paying a premium price expect a quality product that looks well packaged and presented. Further, the consumer needs to be educated as to why they are buying a premium product - promotion. Consider a number of promotional ideas:

§         The product you are selling is Organic; so put the word "organic" on your label. Research has shown that there is 12% of Australian consumers interested in organics.  It is up to you to harness that interest into profitability.  The competition is tough, a world of multinational companies who can and do spend millions trying to convince the consumer their product is what our product really is; environmentally responsible, natural, clean and green. Organic is unique product and needs to be promoted as such.

§         Participate in joint promotional opportunities as they come up. Organic farmers have regularly participated and promoted their produce at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, where over 1.7 million people visit the show annually. Your participation not only gives your products and produce exposure but educates the consumer.

§         Tell your individual story, this is what makes your product interesting. Consumers love to hear your story. The consumer wants to be able to say "I made this little dish out of organic rice.  The rice farmer doesn't burn the stubble just allows it to build soil fertility" etc. Remember you are selling your product/produce to processors, exporters, wholesalers and the consumer, whether it is a brochure, label or your letterhead, the consumer wants a story. Why do you grow? why do you care? how do you grow? You don't have to reveal all.  A graphic and a few words can say a lot.

§         Promote your farm using farm tours, open days and school tours. Excellent examples of farm tours include Montrose farms, Kiwi Down Under and Glenbye. Montrose farms offer "pick up your own berries in picking season", "tour of the charming 1860s homestead", "bed and breakfast" they also offer "afternoon teas, with hot country style scones and homemade berry jam", hold your "wedding reception on the lawns". Kiwi Down Under have won numerous tourist awards. 12,000 people go through a year.  They have a tea house, organic food market, informative farm tours, animal feeding and nature walks. Another highly innovative farm, Glenbye offer `Glenbye Getaway Tours', a package including airfare for parties of ten. Riverina organic rice farms regularly host tours from Japanese farmers and overseas trade delegations.

§         Promote your farm and produce:

-          send brochures or newsletters to your local library, schools and local tourist office.

-          advertise with your state tourist board and holiday magazines.

-          make up a mailing list & include everyone who has visited your farm in the past and post a newsletter, one sided is fine, introducing new products or dates of the next "pick-you-own-weekend".  You could include some other local events or sights in your area..

-          investigate any eco-tourism projects in your area. Do you have any features that the Eco Tourism Association of Australia will endorse?

-          hold open days and field days - organise your own or look for opportunities eg ABC open farm schemes held their annual farm open day with four Victorian organic farms three years ago.

-          let the local paper know of any special events, attach a brochure or newsletter to a very brief and simple press release.

-          start a school farming project to encourage visits.

§         Mail order delivery. In the USA and UK a lot of trading in organics is done via mail order. They advertise in the major health and gourmet magazines.

§         Promote yourself on the World Wide Web. Currently American and European companies have mail order, home delivery and promote themselves on the web. If you have a website you could include your web address on your label. In Australia there are also some trading and information sites being developed.

What Product?

Identify the trends, select the market for your product, package and present your product in a way that it will sell. In other words: are you planning the right product?  Are you growing produce that will sell next season?

·       Note what organic products Australia is importing eg organic corn flakes from the USA and UK.  We also import tomato and salsa sauces, Californian dates, olive oil and pay a premium for them.  Also note how these products are presented.  Why will a consumer pay $6.50 for imported organic corn flakes? The packaging and quality accounts for a lot.

·       Remember fads and fashions change. Investigate, look at conventional models - pasta sauces hardly existed on the supermarket shelves in early 90's, look at the supermarket now.  Chilled and particularly prepared dishes are filling the shelves. The consumer even wants to buy salad dressing ready to pour. As stated by Reg Clairs CEO of Woolworths "Meal solutions will be the single most important revolution for supermarkets over the next 5 years". People want dinner on the plate, not the ingredients in the shop.

As organic producers, are you investigating: organic meal solutions, frozen meals, frozen veg, salad mixes, dips, deserts, pasta meals, chilled vegeburgers, as well as the more traditional deli ranges of chutneys, jams, sauces, pickles?  What about frozen juices, fruit juices, muesli bars, corn flakes?

·       If you are investing in labour, and machinery, invest in research and advice.  Include packaging and marketing in your costing.

·       Farmer and consumer need to get together, look for every opportunity to find out what the consumer buys.  Ask your friends, everyone you meet, ask them why they buy.  Visit the city.

What supermarkets need

Recently a spokesman for Coles Myer said they were now working closely with smaller food companies in a bid to offer a wider range of products, particularly at the gourmet, fresh food end of the market.  Organics have not spent millions on TV advertising and promotions, unlike the big brand names who offer special marketing deals to the supermarkets to claim the best shelf positions for their products.

§         Some supermarkets will expect you to give in-store demos and food tastings.

·       Supermarkets usually trial a line for a season to see if it sells, if not it is out.

·       Packaging; supermarkets have specific needs eg sizes and shape for stacking, barcodes etc.

·       A reliable and regular supply.

In Britain the success of fresh organic fruit and veg in supermarket chains was due to a wholesaler checking what the supermarkets needed.  The wholesaler packaged the produce so it could be easily identified as organic, stacked easily and also provided efficient and reliable delivery system.  Sainsbury's, a UK supermarket chain, has sponsored major organic industry events and has a program in place encouraging the conventional farmers to convert. 

When Sainsbury's advertise nationally they just let the consumer know they sell organic as part of their range.  They sponsor the organic industry to promote and educate the public on the value of organics.

What department stores need

Packaging, shelf life and presentation are just as important to department stores. David Jones are very interested in a line of organic flour that comes in calico bags.  They thought the "calico" look outweighed the problem of stacking and shop soiling (ie the bag looking grubby from dust) but the top-stitching has to be sewn straight & parallel to the edge.  The buyers for DJ's have said they would order more organic products if the labelling and packaging was improved.

Grace Bros prefer packaging for Glenbye's organic wool quilts is a firm transparent plastic case rather than a calico case.  Why? plastic will not get shop soiled, it can be dusted, it can stay neatly stacked, be handled and still look bright and shiny over time. Using plastic rather than calico may seem an environmental contradiction. But shop soiled means selling at a discount.

What small shops need

·       Variety, customers come in daily to be entertained, a fresh fruit and veg shop is like a theatre with live daily performances (the vege display).  Needed is a constant supply of quality staples with something new and seasonal.

·       Samples and tasting - the proof of the pudding, after all, is in the eating. So find ways to have your produce tasted.

Brochures, newsletters and logos

Brochure and leaflets.  Design and make up a simple but professional brochure explaining what your farm sells, plus "your story" and who you are certified by.  Use it like a business card.  Or have a simple leaflet with recipes to go out with consignments.

Newsletters. These could be posted, perhaps quarterly.  Tell about your harvest, any new products, what is in season, field days.  Select dates for farm tours, explain why you dug in your lettuces rather than sprayed after a bug invasion, why there were no carrots last month. Do you do mail order? Include your latest product list with your newsletter. Macro Wholefoods is a large Sydney whole food store, their newsletter, acted as a brochure and had a recipe, some Christmas shopping ideas and their mission statement and a map showing their location. A newsletter can cost less than a glossy brochure especially if printed in one colour and can be more readable.  In addition, you can change it each issue.

Logos. Logos can be a powerful tool for recognition and give an impression. Note when selling to different cultures, a healthy green image or name to an Australian may translate into an inauspicious image in Asia. You could label each piece of fruit with your label or the certifier's logo.

Our environmental predicament

When it comes to packaging and presentation there are conflicts between our organic principals and retail demands.

·       consumers have high expectations and unrealistically want the perfect looking produce.

·       consumers assume:  if it looks hygienic it must be healthy, sterility = goodness and soil on potatoes and lettuces = germs and work to clean.  Also the fear of food contamination is now a great concern of retailers and consumers.

·       organic broccoli travels better in ice and polystyrene but what does the polystyrene do for the environment.  The consumer wants fresh tasting and looking broccoli.

·       some consumers want "environmentally friendly" claims like dolphin safe, chemical free, phosphate free, recycled paper because these claims inundate retailers shelves already.

We need to find ways to responsibly manage these conflicts when labelling and packaging.

Seasonality

Some organic food comes in and out of season and is not available year-round.  In both Europe and USA "being in season" has become a selling point.  Extending supply could include processing the product or specialised storage. At the Earth Food Store in Sydney they sell an organic apple pie. As soon as the new apples are in season the regular customers start anticipating the arrival of these freshly-baked pies. Consumers need to understand why product is not always available so it is important to communicate with the retailer.

Labelling

·       often the label is the product and the packaging

·       always identify your certified ingredients as certified organic

·       needs to be attractive - bring in a designer.

·       sell the positive not the negatives, eg we build soil fertility

·       every label tells a story - let it tell yours

·       include "Free range" when applicable, the customer, often assumes that free range is as good as organic.  So explain what your organic chooks and livestock are fed.  eg organic grain on an organic farm.  Another misconception is "tree ripened" and "sundried" means organic type harvesting and chemical preservative free.

·       have pride in your product. Label and box your produce and each time your name and product are displayed, check its standards.

·       try out a label and package and gauge the responses in the real market - in Bondi, not Bourke.  Ask your friends in the city.

·       check packaging and labelling laws in your state.  NSW Dept. of Fair Trading is in the contact list and they can direct you to the specific government departments and statutory bodies for your requirements. A basic check list for packaged food:

1.     name the food

2.     list the ingredients in order of volume

3.     name and address of maker, packer or vendor, or importer

4.     country of origin

5.     batch code

6.     sell by date or date marking

7.     sugar-free, low fat etc. nutritional content, keep your claims and information simple, realistic and relevant.

8.     don't make claims unless you back it up with clinical data

9.     refrigerate after opening? do not assume everyone realises.  Educate your customer.

10.  exporting - other countries may legally require additional nutritional information and be written in other languages

Promoting products and the media

If you get a national story about your organic produce and how healthy it is, suddenly the consumers want organic. When we promote nationally we have to promote realistically.

Australia is a small country spread over a large land, so how can we promote a relatively small industry nationally when it is spread over such a large expanse?

Industry promotions such as an annual promotion, an `organic harvest', provides an opportunity to promote locally and nationally.  It's major purpose is to educate the consumer. The organic harvest is a national event where the focus is on promotional events at the local (your) level. The activities are held over a month and can include everyone, no matter how small. Publicity for events can be generated through networking, coordinated media releases, using celebrities and tying into other promotions.