Author: Steven Richards

As a result of COVID-19 grocery store shortages, federal and state governments are investing in local food systems with meat processing high on the list. However, once local meat processing bottlenecks have been relieved, additional obstacles will need to be overcome. Clemson surveys of consumers and restaurants in 2020 and 2021 reveal that additional obstacles for increasing local meat sales are availability, price, and inconsistent quality¹.

A lack of availability points out that there are not enough sales outlets for local meats and purchasing local meats is often inconvenient for potential customers. For instance, most local meat consumers visit a farmers’ market once a month² yet shop at a grocery store 2-3 times per week³. Even the most dedicated local food consumer sources less than 50% of their groceries from local producers⁴. For local meats to grow long-term, producers must work together to supply grocery stores and restaurants while addressing the remaining issues of quality inconsistency and price.

One of the best ways for farmers to work together is to form a cooperative or similar collaborative business arrangement. Through collaborative business arrangements, local meat producers can adopt quality guidelines, provide a consistent supply to more sales outlets, and operate at a more efficient scale (possibly becoming more price-competitive). In short, business collaborations will give local meat producers a shot at gaining and maintaining a competitive position in the market.

For more information about cooperatives and collaborative business formation, contact a land grant university or cooperative development center in your region. Contact information for USDA rural cooperative development centers can be found at this link:

https://www.rd.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cooperative_development_centers_february2022.xlsx

References

1. Richards, S. (2021). National Restaurant Buyer Survey Results. Clemson University (Unpublished report). Copy in possession of the first author.
2. Richards, S. (2020). Local Meat Consumer Survey Results. Clemson University (Unpublished report for Berkeley Electric Cooperative and the South Carolina Cattlemens’ Association). Copy in possession of the first author.
3. Ver Ploeg, M., Larimore, E., & Wilde, P. (2017). The Influence of Food Store Access on Grocery Shopping and Food Spending. ers.usda.gov
4. Cicatiello, C. (2020). Alternative food shoppers and the “quantity dilemma”: a study on the determinants of their purchases at alternative markets. Agricultural and Food Economics, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-020-00160-6

Richards, Steve. “Locally Raised Meats: Cooperatives Needed“. Southern Ag Today 2(11.5). March 11, 2022. Permalink

Southern oysters are an important food source with a rich cultural and culinary history. Because of this, it is not surprising that southern consumers tend to eat more oysters than those in other parts of the US. And, with wild oyster harvests diminishing, the south is experiencing a dramatic rise in oyster aquaculture farms. However, unlike most seafood products, farmed oysters cost more than wild harvested oysters. This places the marketing burden on oyster producers to differentiate their farm-raised products to justify higher prices. 

To help oyster marketing efforts, several southern land grant universities have researched oyster consumers to determine key marketable oyster traits. Clemson University researchers have also completed an oyster consumer preference study, with results forthcoming. In addition to oyster consumer preferences, Clemson research also discovered two key findings about consumer perception of oyster farming: more than half of consumers (58%) did not know that most oysters are farm-raised (worldwide), and almost half (45.6%) were unsure whether farmed oysters are good or bad for the environment.

This finding represents a golden marketing opportunity for oyster farmers to educate the public on the importance of supplementing wild harvests and the environmental benefits of oyster farming. Rather than try and manage public perception after the fact, oyster producers can get in front of the news and manage a positive narrative about oyster farming. Because of the appeal to the general public, this message may be easily amplified through public-service-announcements (free) sources such as the local media, land grant universities and cooperative extension, Sea Grant, and Farm Bureau. Local and state restaurant associations and chambers of commerce may also be prime audiences, as they can communicate this message to their members.

It is also important to collaborate with other southern oyster producers to strengthen communication and marketing efforts. An excellent example of this sort of collaboration is Oyster South, whose annual symposium will be held February 3-5, 2022, in Biloxi, Mississippi. For more information on the symposium, please visit www.oystersouth.com. For more information on the findings of Clemson’s oyster consumer preference survey, please contact the author directly.

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Richards, Steve. “Promoting the Importance of Southern Farm Raised Oysters.” Southern Ag Today 2(5.5). January 28, 2022. Permalink