From corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to a wide variety of certifications, businesses are increasingly looking to pitch their ethical credentials to consumers. But for Bolthouse Farms senior director for brand engagement, Pamela Naumes, the trend goes beyond matters of messages; it's about transparency throughout an organization. During the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit in Anaheim, she told www.freshfruitportal.com about how to speak with consumers, The Food Porn index with its aims to make produce sexier, and removing the lines drawn between digital and physical marketing.

Bolthouse Farms' senior director for brand engagement, Pamela Naumes

"I think the biggest thing that consumers, especially young consumers, care about today is the power of doing good," Naumes said, after the PMA's Bryan Silbermann and Cathy Burns touched on the issue in an inspiring State of the Industry address.

"They've grown up and they’ve seen a lot of change in their parents and they've seen a lot of companies do bad things," she said of younger buyers.

The marketing expert pointed to a study done by Jim Stengel, who studied 50 companies that were "doing good" and as a result were driving sales.

"A couple of companies that are already doing it outside the produce industry are companies like Chipotle and Starbucks. I think that the produce industry has to adopt those playbooks and get outside of their comfort zone," she said.

"Chipotle’s mission is all about cultivating a greater good. That mission and that doing good is seen in the products in their restaurants - you can see it in their cups, their advertising, it touches everything they do."

But such a policy has to be much more than just greenwashing or simply words.

"You have to have leadership stand behind transparency," Naumes said.

"Leadership needs to stand behind that and they can’t look at this doing good as an advertising message; it has to be rooted in everything that they do in their culture.

"It’s going to become a problem, and we’re going to weed out the good from the bad, and I think that’s a really good thing."

For Bolthouse, Naumes said as a 100-year-old carrot-growing company the core message was fresh, translated in several areas of the business including its proactive website Foodpornindex.com, which let's visitors know many people are posting food porn images of good versus bad food.

"What we found is way more bad food like bacon and burgers being posted online than fruits and vegetables. We think that’s not a good thing, we want to change that," she said.

"We want to make fruits and vegetables way more sexier than they are.

"The beauty of the website is the name is very provocative; the website got picked up by major publications like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times."

She said the objective was to drive traffic to the site and get people to share the food they liked.

When asked about where the line was drawn between 'good' and 'bad' food, she said the positive emphasis was on the amount of pure fruits and vegetables.

"So is mushroom risotto good or bad? It depends on how you make it. If I made it, I would make it good with no cream," she said.

"Until we can change the balance and make it 50-50, or 51-49, this website’s not going away. We want this to be something, a tool that people can use forever."

She said consumers were demanding fresher and healthier food now, but work was still needed to show people how to make produce tasty.

"What we've found is that consumers’ habits are changing. They’re starting to shop more in the produce section and maybe a little bit less in the center of the store," she said.

"Fruits always taste good, but I think it’s the vegetables piece that’s a little bit harder, so we’ve got to figure out really provocative ways to get people to consume more vegetables.

"Let's be honest – broccoli, I think it tastes amazing but not all people feel the same way. How do we get that person who doesn’t feel the same way to cook it, roast it, and experience it so that they like it?"

She added that another changing dynamic for marketers was how to interact with 'digital natives' - a term given to people who have grown up with the internet, and are savvy when it comes to smartphone usage and e-commerce.

But she warns companies not to make the mistake of separating digital-oriented marketing from more traditional forms.

"We as humans don’t have an online or offline life. We just live life the way that it is...I think the problem with advertising today is it’s very siloed. You'll have a digital campaign with banner ads but then you’ll have a TV spot, but the two don’t connect.

"I think that’s changing, because people like you and me are individuals that are growing up digitally native. My arm from here to here is not a cellphone, and my head is not a TV.

"I think there’s going to be a big shift in advertising from the offline to the online and it’s just going to be holistic, and I can’t wait for that day to happen."

Another issue touched on by Silbermann and Burns during their talk was the issue of serendipity in business, and the wonderful opportunities and experiences it creates. Reflecting on this, we asked Naumes if she thought the dramatic shift to online purchases could take some of the serendipity out of the produce industry's engagement with consumers, in the absence of smells, colorful displays and human interaction.

"I have friends who live in LA and New York City – to be honest, they don't have time to go out shopping. They know exactly what fruits and vegetables they want  cook for their family," she replied.

"But then I also have a good friend who lives in the Midwest and she’s got all the time in the world; she's not stuck in traffic and does want to go out and experience.

"I don't think technology is going to change forever the way we shop. I think what's going to end up happening is that more and more people in urban areas who live on the coast, who suffer from too much traffic, will adopt online buying behavior. That's my prediction."

She said online platforms could still be used to catch consumers' attention for new products, highlighting First Lady Michelle Obama's 'Turnip for What' vine that went viral.

"That to me is brilliant – I know a lot of people who haven’t heard of a turnip or don't know what to do with it, but I think it’s about developing provocative campaigns like the First Lady did to celebrate fruits and vegetables."

www.freshfruitportal.com