Marketing Michigan Fruit Part 2

Marketing Michigan Fruit, Part 2. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the largest tree fruit producers in the world but not the only one. A lot of other fruit is grown here in the U.S. both on the east coast and in the upper midwest. Don Armock with Riveridge Produce from Sparta, Michigan recently spoke with northwest fruit producers about their production.

ARMOCK: Our customer base is pretty similar to what the Pacific Northwest enjoys as a customer base. Internationally, we’re at a bit of a disadvantage in some respects when we start talking about food mile and close to market but we do ship and it’s a relatively small part business.

He says those markets they fit into are due to sizes, grades and varieties.

ARMOCK: Big markets for us are Central America, North and South America. We go as far east as Russia, we go as far west as India, Thailand and Singapore. We used to call ourself the “Variety State” years and years ago. We actually sell and market 20 varieties.

A number of those varieties are specific to the Michigan apple industry while others are more ubiquitous. Armock says a lot of developing their identity revolves around packaging.

ARMOCK: Whether it’s a poly bag that very distinctly calls the fact that it’s in Michigan. It also call attention to what the variety is and the characteristics of the variety. We are also involved in some seasonal ready to display cartons that are specific to seasonal or are themed.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.