CULTIVATING SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY SPEAKING, WITH DR. DAN
What’s the Latest in the Sustainability Marketplace? In September, our small Blue Diamond sustainability team made a significant move. While our desks have stayed in the same location in the office, we now report into the Growth Team at the cooperative. This team was created from the new strategic plan that our board of directors approved to drive faster growth in sales for the cooperative. Combining our sustainability efforts with the marketing-oriented Growth Team will help communicate to our customers the value of what Blue Diamond Growers is doing in the sustainability field. Our team is eager to contribute to these efforts. Recently, a few new reports on market research in sustainable food came across my desk. I’d like to share a few of the things gleaned from these reports. There are both encouraging and sobering trends in these reports, but they speak to the value of thoughtful investment in sustainability at Blue Diamond . By “thoughtful” investment, I mean that we intentionally keep our financial investment lean, leveraging existing programs and our USDA grant funds to extend the reach of what we do. Consumers Like Sustainability, But Quality and Price Come First One of the resources I reviewed is the Sustainability 2023 report from The Hartman Group, Inc., a company that has specialized in researching the topic of sustainability and food with consumers for over two decades. I have followed their work for nearly that long and have found them to be very insightful. The Hartman Group, Inc. publishes this report every 2-3 years and the most recent research came out this summer. The first thing to share from their research is not really a surprise and fits what most of us experience when we go to the grocery store. (I mention this finding because I often hear people say something else, particularly when they’re trying to sell me some sustainability service) Sometimes folks imply that sustainability is the most important thing consumers look for
in their purchases. No surprise to those of us who actually shop and eat, the Hartman research clearly demonstrates that quality, price, and taste come before sustainability in how people shop. On the Blue Diamond sustainability team, we understand this and encourage our marketing and sales teams to lead with those topics first. Fortunately, our products are already well-positioned in those characteristics. That said, the Hartman research has shown increased consumer interest in sustainability over the years. Their recent report suggests that 70% of U.S. adults at least occasionally
The recent Hartman report indicates that consumers are more interested in products that are sourced with environmentally sustainable practices. Photo credit: Mel Machado
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ALMOND FACTS
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