Archive for 'Uncle Sam'

There are times when one wishes one’s national  industry was bigger than it can realistically be, given the size of one’s country.  One of those times is when one discovers that there is such a thing as a Produce Industry Credit Council in the US!

Yes, of course, garlic is part of the produce department. It doesn’t matter whether I go to a supermarket or greengrocer, I will always be able to find garlic somewhere near the onions – and that sort of attitude is exactly why we do not always maximise our sales opportunities in this country.  In recent years, jars of pressed garlic have found their way into some of our produce departments but as a category, garlic is underperforming.  As a category, I hear you ask?  Since when is garlic a category on its own?  Well, the only roadblock seems to be our imagination.

Well, yes, it does not get more bizarre than that.  Having dried cherries for sale is obviously no longer cool.  The flavour needs to be enhanced.  What might we be able to use?  Ah, yes cherry pie sounds plausible, doesn’t it?

Whatever next?

And silly me – I always thought raisins are added to sweet breads to enhance the flavour and not the other way around?

Like many other produce afficionados, I made the annual pilgrimage to PMA’ s Fresh Summit  in the USA a couple of weeks ago. Orlando, Florida is not the easiest of destinations to reach from NZ – so, into LAX, through immigration, a quick terminal change, down to Dallas, Texas as there are no direct flights and a short seven hours later one lands in Orlando.  Add the twelve needed to get from Auckland to Los Angeles and it becomes fairly obvious why my enthusiasm for these kinds of excursions has its limits.  But as I have been, I feel it is only fair to add a few comments here about what I saw – in the spirit of learning of course!

Home away from home for US pooches

Having negotiated the hurdle otherwise known as the US Immigration Service in less than record time, I had to rush through the concrete jungle from Termninal 2 to Terminal 4 to catch my connecting flight. The bathrooms were not functioning that day in Termninal 2; ah well, it had to wait.

Dogs obviously enjoy a greater priority because smack bang between Terminals 2 and 4 this top notch facility for our four legged friends can be found.  Water bowl, real grass, bone shaped exercise area and water hydrant for leg lifting purposes.  They think of everything in the US.  Apart from having enough immigration officers at the gates were planes arrive that is.

Still don’t know how serious consumers take their produce shopping these days?  Can’t get your head around whether organic produce offers work? Well, in the absence of intelligent news reporting in this country, we have to revert to this other place where English is spoken, the good US of A.

When a shopping reporter (or was that reporting shopper?) spends his time inspecting the produce displays of Walmart and compares them with those of his local icon Whole Foods, you know America is on the move. And where America leads (having followed the UK), we in turn follow.  Eventually. To a point.  But nevertheless.

Especially when the themes sound  familiar.  Locally sourced, organically grown, attractively merchandised, survival of the small grower.  Now, where have we heard this before?