What do consumers want and expect from the food supply chain?
The four key points presented by Alex show that there are many opportunities to connect with consumers through clear and assertive communication. The consumer is interested in the origin of the food and values the countryside, the place and agriculture. However, due to lack of investment or even knowledge, many of these opportunities are being lost in the agri-food sector because they do not meet consumer needs and desires. Below is a summary of these 4 points presented:
- The consumer is increasingly interested in a Local food, that supports jobs in the sector and that has less impact on the environment.
- There is a growing trust in farmers and a great opportunity to reconnect shoppers with food production.
- Consumers want clarity in the information and not only in the nutritional aspect. Origin, sustainability, availability, and even price changes must be clearly explained.
- Consumers don't care about share your habits and information with companies in the agri-food sector, provided that there is a return and a clear benefit.
The first three consumer “wishes” can be important factors in building a communication strategy for a product. These are characteristics that many small and medium-sized products or producer associations have as a reality in their business. However, is the information reaching the consumer? Is a good job being done to Communication and Marketing in promoting the already intrinsic characteristics of the business?
Do producers see value in investing in the marketing of agricultural products?
The search for fruit on Google
In this study presented at the STRINGS international conference, carried out by the University of Aveiro, it can be seen that there is a interest of the Portuguese population in searching for terms such as Apple 🍎, Pear 🍐 and Cherry 🍒. Consumers are looking for benefits in the consumption of these fruits, nutritional characteristics and also recipes, these being the themes that stand out when analyzing the demand for these products on Google Trends.
The sites that appear in the top positions are for hospitals or companies that create general content about food and nutrition. Os Producer sites and producer associations for these items are unable to stand out and are less likely to appear on the first pages of Google. Most of them are old-fashioned sites, with technical web design flaws, without any communication strategy and that do not offer consumers the content that generates the most traffic and demand, such as recipes and nutritional characteristics.
Is a good website important when promoting an agricultural product?
In its new review of PDO and PGI products, the European Union mentions the importance of websites. In addition, “seeking information” is the main reason why Portuguese people use the internet (Source: We Are Social).
If there is interest and search for the terms in search engines and your site does not appear in the searches, it means that there are other channels that talk, for example, about Apple and that are gaining more space. You are losing the opportunity to be “found” by potential consumers and make the product better known to Portuguese consumers.
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