Our industry is built of moments, choices, and decisions that cast huge shadows we may not be able to measure for years. Maybe decades. In those moments, we find ourselves striving to change, evolve, and succeed. Or those moments conclude, pause our progress—a nail in the coffin. They are small moments because, in the larger chronicle of history, they occur as a flash of light—something subtle that ripples to change the course of a life, a community, or an industry.
Fresh produce is experiencing many of these moments. Some are still at the beginning of their existence while others have grown in volume to a roar, like the back-breaking cost of doing business. This is not limited to produce.
Take the current wave of retail consolidation we’ve seen over the past 10 years. Some of it is done out of necessity, and some is done out of a desire to eliminate or stifle the competition.
On another front, the consumer and the industry are aligning, but not fast enough. A friend of mine described the two more accurately as potentially converging—crashing into one another as two sides of the same coin. Consumers still want cheap food but with premium quality. So, who eats the cost of production? Is there an opportunity to share in the increased costs across growers, retailers, and consumers?
There will always be that deep desire for survival, which is even more prevalent in our industry. What growers do is inherently human. Farmers grow their crops and tend to them like children—investing in their future, gambling for their greatness, hoping they can become self-sustaining, while preparing the business to live in a world without them. The hope of a legacy.
Whatever the outcome, there will always be costs. The goal is to weigh them and seek the benefits that outweigh the costs. So, what do we do? Where do we turn?
We speak of resilience through innovation more and more. There is the common white-knuckle struggle to grind (with sheer will) to get back to the front of the line—which may work for some. Others will adopt a new way.
We see this happening with broader technology systems that streamline business, moving more manual work tasks into automation, and technology that cuts out the more time-intensive aspects of a process in favor of high-priority ones. The fact is, we may have to do more with less—but what does that mean? Work smarter, not harder? There is still the need to invest—therein lies another rub.
These conversations are common and occur frequently already, yes.
Now, let’s turn up the volume.
