Foodservice 2020

Last year’s Produce Marketing Association Foodservice Conference and Expo in Monterey, Calif., saw the announcement of Foodservice 2020, an ambitious goal to double the use of fresh produce in foodservice by the year 2020. One year later, the initiative has already made an impact, and associations, buyers, growers and processors are working together toward that goal.

According to recent Mintel market research data, produce use has risen 10 percent at foodservice already, said Bryan Silbermann, PMA’s president and CEO. That is evidence that when the industry comes together, it can accomplish great things.

“To the doubters, I say, unless we reach for the stars, we will never reach the moon,” Silbermann told a packed room during the opening general session at the 2010 Foodservice Conference last month. “We really have no choice but to act, and we must act together. The road is certainly long, but the rewards are enormous.”

Silbermann said since the initiative was announced with the National Restaurant Association and the International Foodservice Distributors Association last year, the groundwork has been laid to move forward. An operational plan and a joint message platform have been created, and an integrated educational strategy has been developed. Teams made up of staff from the associations have been formed, and PMA has created a Foodservice 2020 committee, chaired by Rich Dachman, vice president of produce for Sysco Corp.

PMA also hosted a think tank prior to the Foodservice Conference and Expo, where stakeholders from produce businesses and foodservice operators could collaborate and look for new opportunities. The theme that kept emerging throughout the meeting was that there has to be a reimagining of the restaurant experience, Silbermann said. To do this, the industry has to work on a few areas:

Rediscovering flavor in crops. For years, growers have worked on appearance, sometimes at the expense of flavor. But to create a positive eating experience for customers, the flavor profiles of produce have to improve.

“We have to put flavor back into the equation in how we grow, how we ship and how we reward growers when they grow what we say we need,” Silbermann said.

“It feels like a catch-up game,” said David Krause, president of Paramount Citrus, Delano, Calif. “We can’t get away from the fact that consumers look first with their eyes, but we can’t ignore how important the eating experience is.”

Re-introducing flavor to produce will help build memories for consumers. Giving restaurant customers the “best meal they’ve ever had” will be key to doubling produce at foodservice, said Maurice Totty, director of procurement for Foodbuy LLC, Charlotte, N.C.

“It’s going to take the industry to provide a higher flavor profile on a consistent basis,” Totty said.

Improving the flavor profile would bring romance back to produce, said Tim York, president of Markon Cooperative, Salinas, Calif. He said when someone walks through a lettuce field, for example, it leaves an impression on them about the crispness, flavor and freshness of fresh lettuce. But they may not get that same impression from a salad at a restaurant. York said the questions that have to be answered are if operators are willing to not have a product on the menu if it doesn’t meet quality standards for flavor, and if distributors have the strength to say they can’t ship an operator product that doesn’t meet flavor quality standards.

Distributors, operators and growers will have to work together to ensure shelf life and appearance aren’t lost to flavor. York said Markon has worked with an operator for years to reduce shelf life from 30 days to 21 days and continues to reduce it.

“You as suppliers have to evaluate your product at 18 to 20 days, and we as distributors have to move that product faster and colder,” York said.

Common definition of sustainability. The produce industry can be more effective in telling its story about sustainability, Silbermann said. But there isn’t a common definition of sustainability, and consumers, operators and growers define it differently.

“Farmers by nature have to be sustainable. Otherwise, we’re out of business,” Krause said. “We’re trying to do the right things, and our expectation is if we do the right things, that will one day match up with a definition of sustainability.”

A definition of sustainability should include measures to track against over time, said Mark Borman, vice president of operations for Taylor Farms, Salinas, Calif.
“We need to figure out a way to put it in perspective,” Borman said. “If we can show progress, that’s a good way to show our sustainability.”

For operators, sustainability involves growing practices of suppliers, but also corporate responsibility, social and environmental responsibility and profitability, said Tina Fitzgerald, director of produce and social accountability for Independent Purchasing Cooperative, the franchisee-owned buying cooperative for Subway restaurants. She agreed that measures and metrics are necessary to define sustainability, because they provide a way to improve year over year.

The profitability aspect of sustainability is most important to foodservice operators and franchisees, said David Parsley, president and CEO of Centralized Supply Chain Services LLC, Lenexa, Kan., the purchasing company for Applebee’s and IHOP restaurants.

“You’re there to make money and you want to do it responsibly,” he said. “If sustainability can add value, that’s important, but for operators it has to add to profitability.”

Build consumer and operator confidence. When a foodborne illness outbreak occurs in produce, it gives the whole industry a black eye. There needs to be a greater focus on response, research and mitigation of foodborne illness, and there needs to be a communications strategy for addressing the media and public before, during and after a crisis.

“We have to look at this with a shared responsibility and stop pointing fingers,” Silbermann said.

Transparency. In addition to government wanting more transparency and the ability to trace food, consumers are also looking for information on where their food comes from.

“Consumers are looking for answers they never thought to ask before and never knew how to ask it,” Silbermann said.

-by Scott Christie, Managing Editor