Knowing the source...just got more important

I've been writing for the past week about knowing the source of your food as a macro trend that just keeps going and going. What I didn't know is that the government has been looking closely at this too--from a public safety perspective. Today, tne NYTimes reports that the Obama admin is concerned about the ability to trace food back to its source, What has been a marketing advantage now becomes a heightened safety issue and a future hurdle for many food manufacturers who have been missing the boat! I'm somewhat incredulous that many food suppliers are not able to trace their supply chain. Yikes!

Excerpt from NYTimes article:
"federal investigators bought 40 products — including tomatoes, oatmeal and yogurt — from retail stores and Washington and tried to trace them to farms or to the border. Investigators successfully traced the source for only 5 of the 40 products, the report stated. Three of the traced products were egg cartons whose supply chain included only a farm and a retailer. For a tomato, a bag of ice, a bottle of fruit juice and a bottle of water, investigators were not able to even guess the product’s supply chain. For 31 other products, investigators were able to identify only the likely suppliers.

The investigators contacted 220 food facilities to ask about their supplier records....(Among) 118 firms, 70 failed to provide investigators with required information about suppliers or customers, with 6 of the companies failing to provide any information at all...According to an estimate from a manager at a grain storage facility, if grain from one farm were contaminated, millions of bags of flour would be at risk and might have to be removed from retail shelves,”

Source: New York Times: Investigators Find Source of Many Foods Untraceable, GARDINER HARRIS,March 25, 2009

Knowing the source... of your jam

An Australian jam company has executed an idea that a gaggle of us had way back in 2000 for an US food brand. Today, trendwatching.com cited Beerenberg Jam's Provenance Pathway as noteworthy. Their online tool allows one to input the code from the jar cap to track what's inside right back to the orchard. Back in a web 1.0 world, the US company I was working with said they just didn't have the capability to set-up a system like this online. Ooh--it was such a good idea then--and it still is now, particularly as these kinds of applications move to smart phones.

It conjures up those feelings we've all felt when the big ones get away. The regret when a really great idea doesn't move forward. (yes, I'm feeling a little maudlin today).

Knowing the source...of your beer

Having lived and marketed through the "natural ingredient-nothing added-knowing the source of your food" trend since the mid-1990s, I was surprised to see a beer now taking this approach. The "green" plants in Michelob's spot, which turns out be be hops, fist caught my attention. (I had no idea what hops look like. "Man from Munich" showcases the guy who sources hops in Germany. I even remembered the tagline after just one exposure, no small feat(Crafting a Better Beer). It gets me interested in the brand again (even if I'm not the target...last time I saw a 6-pack of Mich was at grandpa's).

This macro trend about knowing the ingredients and the source of the food continues to be oh-so relevant, and continues to pick-up steam as Michelle Obama makes this even more topical. I saw how connecting a brand to this food movement grew Gerber share 10+ points. Smart move for a beer brand to occupy this territory.