Markon: Is variety specialization a key to produce on menus?
MONTEREY, Calif. - Like retail, foodservice can connect with consumers through some degree of exclusivity in fresh produce offerings, whether by varieties, suppliers or seasonality.
But chefs, breeders and marketers at the Markon Chef Summit knew they'll have to pick their spots. Branding, for one, works much better with some fruits and vegetables than others.
The second annual trade event Aug. 23-24 in Monterey and Salinas centered on corporate chefs with Markon Cooperative's seven member companies. New this year, about half a dozen foodservice operator chefs joined their Markon counterparts in field tours, education sessions and a small expo.
Tim York, Markon Cooperative CEO, is happy to take a page from the playbook of apple marketers and run with it in his own business.
"If you walk into your supermarket, you see the apple category has exploded in managed varieties," York said. "A Jazz variety is only grown by a certain grower, and so on. They manage those so that they don't become commoditized to where every grower has them.
"We think there's a real opportunity to look at the grape, melon and lettuce categories and find some varieties that we can work on with growers, and get new products out in the marketplace that only you would have in your restaurants, or we would have in our distribution center," he said.
One possibility is the Golden Dewlicious melon, which was among several Seminis offerings presented to attendees by Candace Wilson, strategic account director for the seed company, a division of Monsanto.
"There are two growers that grow Golden Dewlicious," York said of the white-fleshed honeydew. "We could work very closely with them. We've talked to a couple of our members about doing that work, to estimate what your needs are and be sure we've got some product for you."
"We think there is some value in bringing back seasonality to our menus," York said. "You'd really have some anticipation about this golden honeydew that's going to come. You'll have that in April with great flavor right through September or early October."
Branding is tougher to do with stone fruit than grapes, said Terry Bacon, vice president of variety development for Sun World Innovations.
"With grapes, branding is super important," Bacon said. "Nobody really wants a public variety anymore. They want to have something special. They want to have something that's controlled and not just openly available."
Sun World Innovations is a division of Sun World International, which now has more than 27,000 licensed acres and 63 licensed marketers worldwide.
"It's much more than the variety today," Bacon said. "We can work with marketers in a synergistic way where we're working with retailers and consumers to build the brands up with common packaging and year-round supply."
Grower-shippers who participated in field tours or had product on display at the Markon Chef Summit included Ocean Mist Farms, Church Brothers Farms, California Giant Berry Farms, Taylor Farms, 4Earth Farms, Mann Packing Co., Shanley Farms and Sun World.
Of the two dozen or so products on display, some are still in development while others are already on the market in foodservice or retail.
"We are in a sense reintroducing them and saying, if you will, 'Get on board, guys,'" York said.
Chefs attending for the first time included one from Utah's Stein Eriksen Lodge, brought by Markon member Nicholas & Co.
"It's a high-end resort with a terrific restaurant," York said. "That chef is here because they felt it was important for him to see some of the new ideas and concepts we're introducing here."
