Interesting article. How do you use your smartphone?
“There’s been a very rapid sea change in consumer behavior,” said Elliott Grant, the chief marketing officer for HarvestMark. “With very high-profile food recalls, cellphones and iPhones, people have been trained that they can access information very quickly. They want to know, ‘Where does this come from and is it safe? How far has it traveled? What are the growing practices?’ “
HarvestMark is being used by more than 200 companies, including the national chain Kroger’s, which is applying it to all of its private label fruits and vegetables in its more than 2,400 stores.
Not only does the technology provide information about the food, but it also allows the consumer to send a comment to the farmer, Grant said. “You can click a button and tell the farmer ‘These are the greatest strawberries I’ve ever had’ or whatever. . . . It’s about using technology to put people back in touch with the people who grow their food.”
