Industry players were challenged to seek out new opportunities in “the perfect storm” that has hit the fresh produce sector, when Byan Silbermann took to the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit stage to deliver his annual state of the industry address.
His analysis of the sector covered the impact of the economic slowdown, food safety, nurturing talent and the need for more sustainable returns.
Silbermann fears that while the world is changing, the fresh produce industry is “not swimming fast enough to keep up”. He said the traditional causes for concern, including rising input costs, labour shortages, food safety and sustainability, have “merged into a perfect storm” and been compounded by worldwide economic problems.
But Silbermann reminded the trade that the fresh produce industry remains a “major economic force” and a “big deal”.
He said: “Our financial markets are going through a correction more agonising than any generation has experienced. Our produce markets are much more cyclical and we plan for the down cycles. But it seems as though we are seeing a fundamental change in the wavelength of our produce cycles, something different from the regular ups and downs. It is as if global forces have conspired to heap on as much as we can bear, all in a very short amount of time…
“Do we do enough to control the down times, or have we accepted them as part of our business?”
Silbermann said action was needed immediately but admitted that change is key when businesses “are at the top of their game, not way down fighting for survival”.
He singled out the frozen food category as the next big competitor to the fresh produce industry and claimed major players are “not paying attention” as consumers increasingly switch from fresh to frozen to cut waste and save money.
He urged growers and exporters to tell their story and reveal the “face behind their food”, as a key opportunity to safeguard the industry in troubled economic times. “We in fresh produce should own the space in consumers’ minds for what is seasonal, fresh, nutritious...” he said.
Silbermann insisted that, in order for the industry to move forward in these tough times, more sustainable returns for growers are needed.
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