Page 27 - FoodFocusThailand No.143_February 2018

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ten years’ time, we’ll be looking at a completely different world in terms of how these
technologies are actually used on a large scale in our industry.”
Technological resources, according to Mr Silbermann, are also aiming to tackle water
shortage issues. “We are seeing plenty of investment in water recycling, filtration, precision
application and evaporation control.” An example of this is the dew harvesting greenhouse
designed in Ethiopia, “so that farmers don’t have to rely on outside water supplies, and
this is just one of the many ideas that are forcing our industry to adapt to changes in both
the consumer and technology environments.”
This connects into another increasingly important consumer trend, which is
sustainability, “which has resulted in the general redefinition of the word ‘health’,” states
Mr Silbermann. “If we look at how we used to define the healthfulness of produce, it was

Over the past 18 months, one of the trends
considered most remarkable, and which was started
by Intermarché in France, has been the sale of less
than perfect produce, which is “rebranded and sold to
consumers at a reduced price. Programmes like this
have expanded across the globe, with retailers and
suppliers alike joining together,” he explains, describing
it as an example of great marketing, managing to turn
a defect product into an opportunity.
Mr Worthington, taking part in the presentation to
provide the Australian perspective to some of the topics
addressed, assured that “we’ve picked up on this trend
probably as quickly as everyone else in the world,” with
both small and large retailers trying to capitalise on it.
In fact, “Harris Farm Markets last year was the winner
of our Marketer of the Year Award for their campaign
‘Imperfect Picks’ and over the last 12 months they have
doubled their shelf space in this area.”
This actually serves as a metaphor for other trends,
as according to Mr Silbermann, “a key trend that we’ve
seen is a growing intersection and collaboration
between agriculture, technology and capital investment.”
To illustrate this, he mentions that “in 2014, 2.3 billion
dollars were invested in agricultural technology, and
this doubled to 4.6 billion last year,” with all sectors
involved. In Japan, for instance, they introduced ‘talking
vegetables’ in grocery stores, which “use the farmer’s
voice when a customer reaches out and touches a
product.”
This move also has a lot to do with transparency,
as by providing more information about how the product
was grown, you are likely to improve consumer trust.
At the same time, “it gives the customers a chance to
learn about farming and give them a bit of unique fun
when going to shop. Consequently, sales at some
stores increased by as much as 250%,” he states. It is
clear that “consumers are interested to learn more
about how their food is grown and who grows it,” he
affirms.
In Australia, Mr Worthington explains that this
technological trend has been more influential on the
primary than on the retail sector, with labour being one
of the major issues. “We have also seen a lot of
investment in protected cropping. “I think that, in about

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