Vegetables Australia May-June_MR

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CONTRIBUTORS
Dr Doris Blaesing
Dr Kevin Clayton-Greene
Dr Jenny Ekman
Dr Jessica Lye
Scott Mathew
Dominic Regan
Jarrod Strauch
Dr Len Tesoriero
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: AUSVEG
Phone: 03 9882 0277
Fax: 03 9882 6722
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Cory Rossiter
ADVERTISING: Marc W. Wilson
Gypsy Media
Phone: 0419 107 143
PRINT
RA Printing
Geoff Moar
AUSVEG CHAIRMAN
James Whiteside
AUSVEG CEO
Shaun Lindhe
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Dimi Kyriakou
SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER/EDITOR
Michelle De’Lisle
WRITER/JOURNALIST
Claire Pini
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
All research and development projects have been
funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
using the reseatch and development National Vegetable
Levy and/or voluntary contributions from industry, and
funds from the Australian Government. Vegetables
Australia is produced by AUSVEG Ltd and is free for all
National Vegetable Levy payers.
Disclaimer: Any information or advice contained in this
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without taking into account readers’ individual objectives
or circumstances. Readers should not act or refrain
from acting or alter any business practices on the basis
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appropriateness, currency and relevance of the
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to consider acquiring any product).
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Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited (Hort
Innovation) makes no representations and expressly
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ISSN 1832-3340
Vegetables Australia is the most widely distributed
magazine in horticulture.
Knowing what a consumer is looking for when buying fresh fruit
and vegetables can provide invaluable information to growers at
the farm gate. A simple change to how produce is cut, packaged
and presented on the shelf can go a long way in attracting a
shopper’s attention.
If you walk into any supermarket or fruit shop, there are
countless examples of growers who have already put some serious
thought and investment into innovative packaging and product
options – from pre-cut stir-fry packs to carrot sticks for snacking.
Despite these advancements in the packaging and presentation
of fresh produce, Australian consumers are still falling short when
it comes to their daily vegetable consumption. The CSIRO’s
recent Fruit, Vegetable and Diet Score report was a testament
to this fact – it found that four out of five Australian adults are
not eating enough fruit and vegetables to meet the Australian
Dietary Guidelines.
This highlights one of the major challenges that continues to
face the Australian vegetable industry: how can growers help
consumers to eat more fresh produce?
One of the most successful examples of a vegetable levy-funded
project that targets this space is Project Harvest, a consumer
tracking study commissioned by Horticulture Innovation Australia
and produced by market researcher Colmar Brunton. In this
edition, we take a look at the highlights of the three-year Project
Harvest study on page 12, which includes consumers’ desire for
convenient packaging of fresh produce and useful information
about the vegetables they are buying, such as cooking tips and
nutritional information.
While Project Harvest has already contributed some interesting
insights into consumer trends and preferences when they are
shopping for fruit and veg, clearly there is still more that can be
done to entice consumers to eat more vegetables.
This is an opportunity for growers to step up and meet that
challenge. There is already a wealth of levy-funded information
out there to get you started – you can look at the InfoVeg
database ) as well as previous Project
Harvest reports and Veggycation ). If you
search through these existing resources, you may come across
a new idea that was previously overlooked.
After all, increasing the consumption of Australian vegetables
will not only benefit the overall health of the Australian public, it
will also heighten the profitability of the industry as a whole.
@ausveg #infoveg
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