“Right now, we are resorting to guerilla tactics to build volume for ourselves and other growers,” said Austin Fowler, vice president at Fowler Farms, based in Lockport, NY. “Collectively, many farmers in our area are stressing the savings to retailers to use apples from the East Coast because of lower transportation and logistics costs. It might take a tractor-trailer 200 extra gallons of diesel fuel to get apples to the East Coast from Michigan or the Pacific Northwest over what is used from a local grower.
“We are also stressing to our retail partners that they emphasize that they are sourcing apples locally,” Fowler continued. “Not only do consumers take a lot of pride buying local product, but they are much more comfortable purchasing apples from nearby communities or communities in the same state. I think a number of retailers are now recognizing this and taking steps to be part of this trend and they are utilizing in-store signage to make consumers aware of this.”
Growers and associations in the Northeast say that to cut into Washington’s lead requires a number of things, especially more focused marketing efforts that get both retailers and consumers to ask for locally-grown apples.
The New York Apple Association, for example, highlights its working relationship with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills as one way to build awareness of the New York-grown SnapDragon apples. The NYAA is also involved in in-store activities with retailers to make consumers aware of apples grown in the Empire State.
“The entire industry has a lot of work to do letting consumers know about the benefits of apples, that price points are friendly and that they are a healthy snack,” noted Gabriela D’Arrigo, the longtime vice president of marketing and communications for D’Arrigo New York, based at the Hunts Point Market in Bronx, NY. “I think that the NYAA does a great job working with retailers to let consumers know that these are high-quality local products and they should be eager to purchase them.”
