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by Laura Barton, Oregon Department of Agriculture
In 2006, the Oregon Department of Agriculture met with the Oregon Strawberry Commission to address the decline of Oregon strawberry production and acreage. It was decided to develop a forum to bring together stakeholder representatives to network, brainstorm, identify key issues and prioritize areas to work on. A forum agenda was developed. Organizational efforts were divided between The Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and the Oregon Strawberry Commission, with the Dept. developing buyer and trends/practices panels, and inviting processors to attend, and the Strawberry Commission organizing the non-panel presentations and inviting growers. A central location, Clackamas Community College was procured and a date set. With the Summit being a hosted day long event providing morning and afternoon break snacks and a box lunch, attendees were encouraged to sign up to assure receiving lunch. Several days before the Summit, Commission and ODA staff called 25 growers to try and increase the number of growers attending. The following presentations were intended to provide insights into similar industries’ experiences in overcoming their challenges, trends, practices and needs of fresh and processed strawberry buyers: •Oregon strawberry industry overview and history with a brief overview of some key research including Breeding; Machine Harvesting; Acreage, Production, Price History; Some relevant Food Science. •Wild blueberries, primarily used in the ingredients market, have grown significantly in market value by being successfully promoted as a both premium quality berry and high in antioxidants. •North Carolina’s fresh market challenges and successes. How another strawberry industry has overcome challenges. •Panel Discussion: Discussion about what sparks consumers today both from a retail, foodservice, and industrial perspective. Areas discussed include fresh, frozen, the value of "local" and traceability, types of packaging, seasonality, key attributes and issues growers/packers need to address for optimum sales. •Panel Discussion: What are the trends and practices that give, or can give Oregon berries the advantage? Retailers, processors and fresh market growers provide an overview on growth of fresh, local, interest in traceability, growth of convenience packaging, nutraceutical interest, growing/handling practices, market focus, varieties grown, growth & challenges, promoting Oregon strawberries, what works and what could help sell more. Following the presentations, an hour was spent in three small work groups, moderated by ODA staff and intentionally mixed to represent growers, processors and guest speakers, to discuss issues, and then suggest and prioritize possible strategies. The groups then reconvened into one group for an additional half hour to review small group outcomes and come to consensus on top three areas to focus on: 1) Labor suggestions on how to work on: Bring together growers, politicians, ODA, Dept. of Labor and the Governor's office to have discussions. The OR Labor Commissioner attended and is willing to start the discussions. Coordinate with other Oregon industries that have seasonal labor issues (such as Christmas trees and Nursery), perhaps become a "test case" for US agricultural worker programs. 2) Create a Consortium of interested growers, processors AND interested users, such as retailers, food service operations, ingredient users (such as Haagen Daz) to collaborate on projects and issues. One project identified: Direct Store Delivery program for fresh market Oregon strawberries. 3) Branding of Oregon Strawberries - Not getting hung up on "OR industry is small and doesn't have money". Positioning the Oregon strawberry in the marketplace to keep and increase demand and high pricing. This branding could include the Consortium partners. A total of 70 people attended the Summit, with several of the targeted growers and processors joined by a few media, OSU researchers, ODA staff, Oregon Labor Commission staff and guest speakers. If you are interested in participating in the next steps, please contact us. A letter and invitation to Oregon strawberry stakeholders. |