MARKETING OF LOCAL FOOD TO RETAIL STORES, CATERING UNITS AND RURAL TOURISM ENTERPRISES

I (Jeanette) have read the ”Lähiruoan markkinointi vähittäiskauppoihin, suurkeittiöihin ja maaseutumatkailuyrityksiin” (translated: MARKETING OF LOCAL FOOD TO RETAIL STORES, CATERING UNITS AND RURAL TOURISM ENTERPRISES) written by Jaana Paananen and Sari Forsman (2003). The text did not tell that much about marketing as I thought it would have done, but at least it gave me a lot of new information about local food and other locally produced products. These are some of the main points that I got out from the text:

• ·      At the moment, the demand of local food is bigger than the actual supply in Finland.

• ·      A main part of the local food-brand is that the actual process between the provider (i.e. the farmer) and the final consumer is as short as possible (no more logistic services than absolutely needed).

• ·      Customers are not ready to pay a higher price for local food, unless they can see the advantages with it: they want to be able to taste the difference, smell the difference or see the difference. They also want the information about the origin of the product to be clearly available

As we all know, local food has become an image-maker for companies, and the text that I read also pointed this out. Consumers become more aware about their consuming and the origin of their food and products, living in a “green world” like we are today. This leads to the fact that the demand of these locally produced products have increased very drastically over the last years.

The biggest consumer of local food is, according to the text, catering firms. These companies have been a big user of locally produced food and organic food already for decades, but only now has it suddenly become highlighted (and this as a result of the big “boom” around local food at the moment). But why do they choose local food instead of a bit cheaper food from elsewhere, and why have they done it for such a long time? There are many answers, but a few very clear ones: On one hand– their costumers want it. And on the other hand – It’s easier in many ways. It is pretty obvious that it makes a lot of things easier if you are in direct contact with your supplier, instead of going through many middle hands to reach your contact.

What can be considered as locally produced food then? Well, there are some main points that have to be outstanding for the products so that they can be called “locally produced”. These are some of them:

• ·      According to the study made by Paananen and Forsman, locally produced food is seen as something pure, fresh and good tasting.

• ·      According to some smaller companies locally produced food should also be differentiated from factory produce by means of production. The production process, preferably by hand and in small amounts is seen as a critical part of the locally produced goods brand.

• ·      Specialization: that fact that the food that is seen as “local food” is only found in a specific area plays a big role. For example if “Pekkas potatoes”, that you can buy in Parainen, is found in Porvoo, they can not be seen as local food, since the distance is very far between Parainen and Porvoo.

The biggest problems with sales of locally produced goods through convenience stores is the fact that some stores do not have the facilities and tools to handle the produce. Another big problem is the small producers ability to provide enough units of a product for the bigger demand of a large convenience store or a chain of stores. Large stores also have a whole other system for billing and payment, which in some cases can cause problems for smaller producers with smaller budgets and shorter time-spans for their own payments and costs.