Consumers are just figuring out what food fraud is to them, Sylvain Charlebois says. (John Greig photo)

Greig: Food fraud a challenge to whole food supply chain

Farmers are used to the conversation about how to manage trust with consumers. Food companies are learning it too, and finding food fraud to be a significant concern. Food fraud “comes back to trust,” according to Renata McGuire of NSF Consulting and Technical Services. “Do I trust this brand?” McGuire, along with Sylvain Charlebois, dean

(Dave Bedard photo)

China seen set to become world’s second-biggest wine market

Paris | Reuters — China is set to overtake Britain and France to become the world’s second-largest wine consumer by value behind the U.S. by 2020 as consumers turn to more middle-range wines, the International Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR) organization said Thursday. In a study for wine fair Vinexpo it forecast Chinese wine consumption


Editorial: Market realities

Over the years people have done some pretty goofy things to make money. Probably the best example is Gary Dahl, the inventor of the hare-brained scheme that was the pet rock. The story goes he was sitting in a bar in Los Angeles with friends in the early 1970s, listening to them complain about their

Farmers will do better reaching consumers through emotional stories rather than just facts and figures. That’s the message veteran adman and host of CBC Radio’s, “Under the Influence,” Terry O’Reilly, gave at Ag Days in Brandon Jan. 18.

When influencing opinion, heart not head

Adman says farmers should use stories to make an emotional connection with consumers

Ticked off city people don’t get agriculture? Instead of spewing facts, employ emotion, veteran adman and host of CBC Radio’s, “Under the Influence,” Terry O’Reilly, said here at Ag Days Jan. 18. “My industry (advertising) has proven time and time again that information doesn’t necessarily move people,” O’Reilly said. “You have to attach emotion to


Opinion: United voice needed for industry challenges

Gord Gilmour’s recent editorial (‘Butt out,’ Jan. 12, 2017) about the reaction of farmers and others in the industry — me included — to the recent Bothwell Cheese decision to apply the Non-GMO Project Verified label on some of its product lines encouraged me to reflect more deeply on my views. There are nuggets I

Editorial: Mutual respect

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone from this industry lament that consumers just don’t understand them. They don’t realize that agriculture produces some of the safest and most readily available food in human history, these ‘agvocates’ state, all on low margins, and at high risk. From their positions of comfort in


Female hands holding a vegetable

Food production for and by consumers

A strong consumer connection can let a 
small farm be a big economic success

Technology has significantly changed agriculture, reducing the amount of labour required to produce food. As a result there are larger farms with more acres and many more animals per farmer. This means a small percentage of farmers produce a large percentage of the total. However, this does not mean that big is the only way

Canadian Organic Trade Association head Dag Falck says agriculture needs to understand it’s consumers driving the conversation, not organic growers.

Telling people they’re wrong won’t win their trust

Organic farmers have an opportunity to be leaders in agriculture

The organic sector must tread carefully or risk getting caught in the crossfire in the growing debate over social licence in agriculture, the president of the Canadian Organic Trade Association says. Dag Falck told the recent Organic Connections conference in Regina that while organic farmers are rarely targeted by consumers who have concerns over how


Editorial: Listen up

I spend a lot of time at farm meetings. It’s an occupational hazard. After a while, one can blend into another, even as common themes emerge. Recently one of those common themes has been the need to engage the public, advocate for the industry and ‘educate’ consumers. I agree the math is remorseless. The farm

Young man reading shopping list in produce aisle, side view, close-up

‘You’re wrong’ is the wrong message

Trying to dictate what products consumers should get or what 
food companies should supply them is surely a losing tactic


When most of us hear the words, “Have I got a great deal for you!” we grab our wallets because experience suggests any forthcoming deal won’t be great. Similarly, when someone says, “Here’s the straight talk,” our baloney meters redline because we know the coming talk will be about as straight as a hound’s hind