On the weekend I cooked up an Indian storm with the ‘star dish’ being a split red lentil dahl.
It got me thinking about where the lentils came from, who grew them and what happens to them along the way.
And I’m not alone.
Talking with people in either a personal or work-related context, I’m convinced there’s growing demand from consumers to know more about the food they eat and the people who produce it. On face value, it should be easy to share the story about ‘where your food comes from’ but for farmers, it is challenging and there are many reasons why.
Firstly, grain farming – and Australian agriculture in general – is thought of in commodity terms. It’s all about standardisation and making it easier for post farmgate logistics and the processors.
Whilst this was important in previous eras, it now means the farming community misses out on a lot of value in sharing their story. It also means farmers and consumers are disconnected from the process of how ingredients for daily meals are produced.
This disconnect is leading farmers to feel increasingly challenged in their social licence where their right to be able to farm is being questioned by consumers who have a wide range of information sources which shape their view on how they expect their food to be produced.
Technology has the potential to overcome some of these issues but currently there is a feeling that technology is also making things harder by increasing the amount of mis-information out there.
The team at BCG want farmers to see digital tools and systems as something that adds value to their primary product. We want farmers to feel empowered by the data they create and a sense of control over how and who they share with.
Over time we are confident this will become standard practice and a reconnection with the consumer will occur as digital tools evolve to provide opportunities for highlighting the food production process.
Value will be delivered when there is adequate connectivity, the capability to support the use of the tools and trust is built.
To demonstrate that this consumer desire is not a new idea, here are ‘The Young Ones’ who promoted the need to be an informed consumer back in the 80’s.
