Island to Island, Farmer to Chef: Ag Agricultural Marketing Proposal

1. Survey the tourism industry’s total monthly demand for each fruit and vegetable grown on the islands.

In 2011, the Farmer Chef Initiative surveyed the tourism industry's demand on Guam for locally or island grown produce through a survey, multi-session focus group and one-on-one discussions.

The written survey of Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association Food and Beverage Group (GHRA Food) members and the Micronesia Chef’s Association (MCA) was conducted. While the response rate was low, the completed response provided sufficient data to identify seven locally produced vegetables and fruits that can compete with wholesale imports on price alone.

MCA members were also used as a focus group over multiple meetings to identify new marketing channels and chef demand for local tropical fruits and to gather feedback on farmer marketing efforts and potential for new promotional activites

Finally, project team members held one-on-one discussions with Palau chefs about local fruit utilization and chef preferences towards produce for culinary experimentation and cultivation.

In 2012, there were several survey activities conducted on both Pohnpei and Palau. In Palau the project team surveyed  the tourism industry's aggregate weekly demand for  fruits, nuts, root crops, spices and vegetables grown on the islands (see attached). They also surveyed (through interviews and focus group sessions) markets, agricultural professionals and farmers identifying fruit seasonality in order to develop the fruit seasonality poster discussed below.

2. Conduct market surveys and farmer interviews on product seasonality by month.

Throughout program years, the Farmer Chef Initiative developed fruit and vegetable seasonality charts for both Guam and Palau. This effort surveyed agricultural professionals and farmers and observed product availability in local markets over several years. These posters are utilized by UOG Cooperative Extension and farmers groups in education event with chefs and other buyers and are often requested as handouts at Farmer/Chef events.

On Guam discussions were held with MCA to obtain chefs' buy-in for making a calendar on monthly market basket of local fruits with chefs' monthly menu. They noted it might be a worthwhile activity but noted it would need to be changed each year. They proposed that maybe developing a farmer chef cook book that contains seasonality information might be more practical. The project was able to initiate interest and discussion along these lines on Guam, and we hope to see this continued in future years.

In Palau the team jointly polled farmers and chefs to identify the most popular fruit, root and vegetable that is in season each month of the year.  A fruit seasonality poster was developed for Palau. Also, a seasonality calendar was developed as a monthly print on demand product (see attached).

3. Develop food processing methods to extend the availability of few key seasonal products.

In 2011, Palau identified key initial target products for value-added efforts, including: calamansi, jackfruit, panama berry, soursop and pickle fruit. During the same year on Guam, soursop and calamansi were targeted for value-added research and demonstration. Workshops were held on processing frozen soursop puree and calamansi marmalade.  Food dehydrators were purchased for UOG & NMC to developing dried fruit and vegetable products for Guam and CNMI.

A key activity which was not funded by this grant, but is a direct outcome of the Guam Farmer Chef conference, was the training of agriculture and culinary professionals in value-added processing and food preservation. Local funding from two sources, New Farmer Plan of Work (of which the Western SARE PDP is a part) and Children, Family, Youth, and Nutrition programs, was leveraged to subsidize training for a California certified Master Food Preserver program. Fourteen local agriculture, UOG Cooperative Extension, and Guam Community College culinary professionals successfully completed a two-week, 70-hour food preservation and processing training in September/October 2012. As part of their certification process, these professionals agreed to implement community workshops during the year following the ending of this grant period. They will also form a working group that will contribute to the development of a Guam Master Food Preserver/Processer program and complete another 20 hours training to fulfill California MFP certification requirements.

4. Organize regular community building events between farmers and chefs.

Through regular meetings with MCA and GHRA, Cooperative Extension has worked to focus the three biggest culinary/hospitality industry events of the year on local produce:

Pastries in Paradise was a dessert expo, including a culinary competition fruit displays. This project provided coordination in using local fruit and vegetables in this competition for the project years. Dates for these events in the program years were: October 10, 2009, October 30, 2010, and October 1, 2011.

Taste Guam is a culinary event featuring cooking demonstrations, competition and opportunities to purchase food. Dates for these events in the program years were: June 20, 2009, June 19, 2010, June 4, 2011, and May 19-20, 2012.

The Pacific Hotel and Restaurant Expo (PHARE) is a trade show with industry seminars, networking/contracting opportunities and product showcase. Dates for these events in the program years were: April 16-18, 2009, May 7-8, 2010, and April 12-13, 2012.

In addition to these very large events, the project coordinated the cooperation of farmers and chefs in many smaller culinary and local produce promotional events over the years of the project.

Particularly successful were four quarterly Farmer/Chef Farm Grill Nights in which the hospitality and agricultural professionals participated in farm tours, learned from produce seasonality displays and other educational events. Chefs were also engaged in a competition using local fruits and vegetables. Attendance exceeded 75 people per event. As a result of enthusiasm generated at the Grill Nights, new partners like Guam Humanities Council have expressed interest in joining. Additionally, topics for the Farmer/Chef Conferences of 2012 (July 17-27) were a direct result of feedback generated at these Grill Nights. Dates for these Farmer Chef Grill nights were August 23, 2011, February 28, 2012, July 24, 2012, and December 18, 2012. The partners intend to continue the Farmer Chef Farm Grill nights beyond the period of the grant.

5. Develop educational products like “What’s Fresh Now” monthly guide.

In Guam seasonality charts and posters for both local fruit and vegetables have been produced. Educational programs to chefs, tourism groups and the general public have been held on these educational tools.

In Palau, a fruit seasonality poster was developd, and an annual calendar—including recipes from local chefs—on the topic of “What’s Fresh Now” was developed for print-on-demand for calendar year 2013.

In developing these seasonality posters and ,we worked with Ken Love, president of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers,  to identify materials developed in Hawaii and used these materials as guides to develop similar materials or directly adapted Hawaii materials for Guam and the Western Pacific. One measure of this effort's success is that now in planning events, MCA routinely looks to these posters and to the Farmers Coop and UOG CES to verify what is fresh for use in the event.

6. Organize Farmer/Chef meetings on product standards, market logistics, seasonality and other issues.

In 2011, through regular meetings of farmers’ groups and MCA on Guam, a new market channel with a local wholesale operation was opened for the first target vegetable, cherry tomatoes. The product moving through this channel expanded in one year from 600 pounds/week to 1,200 pounds/week with the current demand growing at 2,000 pounds+/week.  This work was based on the chef and purchasing agent survey and communications with the local wholesale firm at MCA meetings.

In 2011 and 2012, the project team assisted the Farmers Coop in introduction of a second product into this market channel  -  Kalamansi (Calamundin Lime). This was followed by addition of cucumber, eggplant and cooking bananas. This value chain continues to develop beyond the period of the grant.

In 2012 the Farmer Chef Initiative spearheaded Farmers Chef Conferences in Pohnpei (July 17-18), Guam (July 23-26) and Palau (July 26-27). These conferences, depending on local needs, included workshops on food safety, food preservation and processing, creating successful farmer-chef linkages, Master Gardener programs, break-out sessions on procurement, food technology, nutrition and/or taste testings. Each conference also allocated time for facilitated needs assessment and planning sessions to develop future collaborative activities in farmer-chef linkages, community and home gardens, food preservation and value-added processing.

• Palau Farmer/Chef Conference Notes By Bob Bishop
• Brochure on Palau Farmer Chef Conference
• Farmer/Chef Farm Grill Night Guide
• GaumFarmerChefConferenceFlipChartNotes
• Brochure on Guam Farmer Chef Conference
• Palau Tourism Industry’s Aggregate Weekly Demand for Local Produce
• Pohnpei Report of Project Activities
• Schedule for Pohnpei Farmer Chef Conference