4th Annual Local vs. Imported Supermarket Produce (2012): A need for commitment
Based on West Hawaii Today Food Ads from Sept. 2011 to Sept. 2012
Supermarkets are increasing the percentage of local produce advertised. From 2009 to 2012 I have tracked the weekly food ads to discern any trends or major changes in the percentages of local produce to imported produce advertised in West Hawaii Today. The Big Island stores monitored include: KTA, Choice Mart, Foodland and Safeway.
For 2012 the number of items advertised:
KTA Choice Mart Foodland Safeway
Total Items
Advertised 568 468 758 709
Percent of Local Items
Advertised:
2012 47% 53% 34% 14%
2011 45% 55% 25% 18%
2010 43% 59% 25% 16%
2009 44% 49% 26% 12%
This is a substantial increase for Foodland. If we look at figures from 2009 to 2012 for local produce advertised as a percent of total produce advertised,
KTA had an overall 7% increase
Choice Mart had an 8% increase
Foodland, 31% Increase
Safeway, 15% increase.
This shows that the ever-increasing focus on "Buy Local, It Matters" has had an effect, I suspect primarily due to increased consumer awareness. This awareness comes from a variety of sources including campaigns from the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture, efforts of state commodity groups to promote and brand locally grown and a good deal is owed to bloggers around the state who monitor and report on local food related events.
The overall percentage of local produce advertised by Choice Mart continues to be greater than the other stores.
Confusing Foodland advertisement—While claiming "Local First," the produce in the advertisement is all imported.Foodland's 31% increase over 3 years, to 34%, or 258 local items advertised, is a welcome relief from their past performances. They still need to be aware of misleading advertising and placing imports under local signage. Their slogan "Local First! Always the Best" is of course a welcome sentiment but when the advertisement below that slogan is for only imported produce, the meaning is lost. This ad was from January 2012, during the height of the local avocado and citrus season, when local supplies are plentiful. This is why many local growers do not like shopping at Foodland.
Safeway achieved a 15% increase in the proportion of ads being local items. This still represents a dismal total of only 98 local items out of a total of 709. Clearly being integrated into the farming community is not a priority although they have had a few surprising positive ads.
Notable weeks
In early September, 2011, Safeway surprised us by promoting 9 of 10 produce items as being local. This shows that it is possible to focus more on local items but sadly the following week was only 1 of 10 and the week after 0 for 11. Safeway has yet to really learn the value of local produce to the community they serve.
In October, Foodland/Sack N Save and Safeway were promoting imported tangerines and imported avocados during the height of the local season. Prices were considerably lower than local cost of production. Was the imported produce dumped on Hawaii? Foodland was reprimanded online for offering these tangerines under the local produce signage in both Honolulu and Kona. This was not the first time and happened the following week with imported avocados. This sort of action should be fineable and the state should be able to take action and have the power to enforce correct labeling as diligently as they enforce tax collection or gas station pump accuracy.
During the first week of November Safeway was advertising Korean pears as locally grown. This was turned into the state HDOA who contracted Safeway. They were told to correct this and place a sign in the store to apologize for the error, which they did. The same week they were selling imported pineapple and imported papaya. There were no stickers on the fruit and no lack of country of origin labeling on the papaya and pineapple, but it was obvious they were not locally grown. This based on variety and condition of the "jet lagged" fruit.
In December, Foodland was again promoting imported avocados during the height of the local Sharwil season. Perhaps this is because of their primary wholesaler, Armstrong. They will not sell locally grown avocados, a problem that surely needs to be addressed.
During this 2011 year-end time period and into March, KTA and Choice Mart promoted local avocados while Foodland and Safeway continually advertised imports. Safeway and Foodland also advertised imported mangoes in May although Foodland did mention local lychee.
In a June advertisement, Safeway used the names of the farms whose produce they sold. This included Aloun, Nakamoto, and Kawano, only they continued to push the imported avocados. One would hope Safeway could continue these more "local" oriented promotions year-around.
Clearly the awareness in general of Localvore movements, "Buy Local, It Matters" and "Know your Farmer" campaigns has contributed to increases in advertising and promotion of local produce. Sustaining this over a period of time is another story. Grocery stores must commit to more sustainable sales of local produce. Growers must commit to ever increasing quality and quantities for the stores. Help from state "powers that be" to convince wholesalers to do a better job marketing local produce is something that would be most welcome. For some locally owned wholesalers not to sell locally grown avocados is simple unconscionable. The local food movement in Hawaii is gaining ground but its still hard fought and inch-by-inch.
Ken Love is President of the Hawai'i Tropical Fruit Growers Association (HTFG). He has been a long-time advocate and entrepreneur for local fruit production and consumption. His abundant publications can be found at www.Hawaiifruit.net. For information about HTFG, see http://www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org.