Page 6 - SA Fruit Journal VOLUME 14

Says who?On a recent flight to Hanoi in Vietnam (as a member of a Fruit SA Market Ac- cess delegation), I sat next to a young manfrom Vietnam and we started talking. When he heard that I was involved in the fresh fruit industry, the conversation turned to food, diets and eating habits. The Vietnamese are friendly and hospitable people (in my experi- ence . . .) and thus this young man invited me to join him and his family for dinner at his parents’ house that evening. My response was that I must check my SMS’s after we have landed to see if it will be possible to accept the invitation.However, being curious, I asked him what type of food he prefers - and obvi- ously, he said fresh fruit - and meat. On en- quiry about what meat dishes are popular, he mentioned that he eats any kind of meat "mouse, snake, pig, cat, dog . . ." Naturally, I asked him why/how can he eat dog and his response was "why not?" I explained that it is a pet - and his reply was: "Who decided that a dog is a pet?"That response got me thinking . . . indeed, who decides . . .• Facts are thus sometimes relative and are only of relevance when viewed in context. We (or at least I) assume things and judge others without understanding the context ortheir culture, frame-of-reference, etc . . .and vice versa;• The old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is quite true.• Everyone’s perception of something/some- body is his/her truth.The above-mentioned thus also holds true for consumers of fruit: in some coun- tries, certain consumers will view a specific piece of fruit as being of high quality and are willing to pay a premium for it . . . while the same piece of fruit might be viewed in other countries under different circumstances, as of low quality. This is thus the challenge which marketers face - to fully understand the client/customer and his/her needs and wants - and then to supply the fruit which satisfies those needs and wants. By doing this, existing markets can be retained and expand- ed and new markets be developed.May 2015 be a year in which we shall be able to increasingly understand our clients/ customers better and thus contribute to the sustainability of our industry.. . . and, regrettably, I could not accept the dinner invitation because I have discovered that I already had a meeting scheduled about an hour after we have landed in Hanoi . . . Indeed: who decides?ANTON KRUGER (CEO, FPEF) SHAREHOLDERS: SA Apple & Pear Producers’ Association, SA Stone Fruit Producers’ Association,Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum, SA Table Grape Industry and Citrus Growers’ Association.NB: 1st CGA CITRUS SUMMIT - 11th & 12th March 2015 at The Hans Merensky Hotel, Mpumulanga.This summit is exclusively for growers of export citrus who are members of the Citrus Growers' Association of southern Africa. For more information please contact the CGA offices on 031 765 2514.SA FRUIT JOURNAL 3 FEB | MARCH 2015FOREWORDvoorwoordTHE BOARDsafj direkteureANTON RABEExecutive Director, HORTGROANTON KRUGER CEO, FPEFWILLEM BESTBIER CEO, SATIJUSTIN CHADWICK CEO, CGA