PBH Discusses Fruit and Vegetable Board

Produce for Better Health (PBH) Foundation has announced its intention to begin a seven-month dialog with the fruit and vegetable industry about the possible development of a national fruit and vegetable research and promotion board.

PBH’s executive committee appointed an industry task force in 2008 to look into past barriers to such a promotion board. After a yearlong discussion, the task force presented its conclusions to PBH’s executive committee, which shared them with the PBH Board of Trustees at its annual meeting April 3.

The discussion outlined the objective of such a promotion board and how it would be funded. The proposed objective is: To increase consumption in the United States of all forms of fruits and vegetables for better health through implementation of a comprehensive marketing, communications and education effort.

A total of $30 million is proposed to be collected from first handlers. This amount would be collected via a 0.046 percent assessment (less than 1/20 of one percent) on the free-on-board (FOB) market value of all first handlers and importers of both fresh and processed fruits and vegetables.

The creation of such a promotion board would be dependent on the outcome of a referendum, or vote, of first handlers. Voting would likely not occur until 2011; if passed, assessments would likely not begin until 2012.

For details, visit the proposed promotion board area of the PBH Web site (www.fv-campaign.com). PBH is available to speak to groups of first handlers and importers to present the information in more detail and to seek feedback until October.

“There was a great deal of thought that went into the development of the proposed promotion board because we wanted to give the industry a solid place from which to begin discussions,” said Mark Munger, vice president of marketing at Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce and outgoing chairman of PBH. “Our intent is to get feedback from first handlers over the next several months and make adjustments accordingly. It may be that nothing happens at all, but our hope is that the industry will give the effort fair consideration. The proposed assessment rate was thought to not be overly burdensome, yet enough to be helpful to the industry as a whole.”

Webinars explaining the proposed promotion board and the referendum process will be conducted on Tuesday, April 7 at 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 9 at 2 p.m. EDT, and Wednesday, April 15 at 2 p.m. EDT.

E-mail Sharese Alston at [email protected] to register for one of the Webinars. For more information or to schedule a presentation about the proposed promotion board, e-mail Elizabeth Pivonka, president and CEO of PBH, at [email protected]; or call 302-235-2329, ext 315.