By LIAM JACKSON
Capital News Service
LANSING — Grocery shoppers are making impulse purchases on things like candy bars, magazines, gum and…asparagus?
During the coronavirus pandemic, many people have turned to online shopping. It hasn’t benefited the asparagus market, as marketers call it an “impulse buy,” said Jamie Clover Adams, executive director of the DeWitt-based Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board.
“A lot of times it’s not on your grocery list,” she said. “But when you walk into the store and see this beautiful product there, you’re like, ‘Hmm. I want to buy this.'”
Promoting online asparagus sales is part of $1.2 million projects to support Michigan specialty crops recently awarded by federal officials.
The funds were distributed among 12 recipients.
The Asparagus Group successfully applied for a $125,000 grant for a project called “Michigan Asparagus for the Digital World.”
It targets asparagus ads and its uses for shoppers when online, Clover Adams said. Promoting to people who shop online is imperative for asparagus growers because the asparagus growing season in Michigan is a two-month window in May and June.
“It’s a perishable commodity,” Clover Adams said. “If people don’t buy, retailers reduce the price in-store to sell it. This is where we saw a drop in prices.
Michigan has more than 100 family farms that produce 20 million pounds of asparagus according to the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board. Oceana County hosts the annual National Asparagus Festival and is considered the “National Asparagus Capital.”
Recipes that include asparagus are part of those ads to help people enjoy their experience with the product and keep them coming back for more, Clover Adams said.
Another grant-supported commodity group is the Cherry Marketing Institute. He is also receiving $125,000 to improve marketing and increase demand for Michigan-grown tart cherries nationally and even internationally.
“We are finding opportunity and finding homes for tart cherries all over the world,” said Nate Chesher, Marketing Director of the Cherry Marketing Institute.
Mexico could be ripe for expansion. Cherries for bakeries, hotel menus and cocktails are in demand across the border.
In the United States, tart cherries grown in Michigan are marketed for things like cereal, granola bars, and even in a special tart cherry-themed burger at Wahlburger.
“It really runs the gamut,” Chesher said. “You can put cherries on sweets, salties, etc.”
Hops are an important specialty crop for Michigan breweries. The crop has been purchased from farmers outside of Michigan in recent years, said Chris Vogel, hop trials coordinator for Great Lakes Hops.
Great Lakes Hops, located in Zeeland, received $85,800 to help farmers grow hops in Michigan.
“We’re trying to bridge the gap between the farms and the brewers using their product,” Vogel said. “And emphasize the local market available for hops. It is not a resource that has always been available. We didn’t have that 20 years ago.
Other grants include:
- Michigan Apple Committee to Lansing, $200,000, to increase brand awareness and awareness of Michigan apple retailers;
- Michigan Cider Association in Grand Rapids; $125,000 to develop cider-making expertise;
- Michigan Potato Industry Commission in East Lansing, $100,000 to promote Michigan potatoes as healthy and affordable;
- Michigan Landscape and Nursery Association to Okemos, $100,000 for weed control in Michigan new crops; and
- Revolution Farms in Caledonia, $68,000 to encourage children to eat more vegetables through hydroponic gardening.
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