This fall, I heard Brian Tischler, President of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, tell the crop protection sector that he and other farmers are not their customers.  He wasn’t saying he would no longer be using the products supplied by life science companies; rather he was trying to explain that they need to look past the farmer to end-users as the customer.  Certainly it has been de rigueur in the seed sector to be talking about end use traits for years now.  The tougher question is: are we living up to the promise?

In some meaningful ways, the answer is “yes”.  There are varieties geared to ethanol production, soybeans for tofu, wheat for crackers, tomatoes for soup, canola full of good fats.  Exciting developments to be sure.  It has helped retain marketshare and created some value chains with benefits for the seed sector and farmers alike.

However, there is more to be done to live up to the promise of focusing on consumers.  If the seed industry really means to deliver value to processors, farmers, and the seed sector itself, it will take more action.

End Use Traits – Long-awaited, the next wave of traits is supposed to be focused less on agronomic traits and more on consumer needs like functional foods.  It seems more likely that drought and salinity tolerance are around the corner rather than extra-nutritious foods or pharmacological traits.

Registrations in Key Markets – When those end use traits are introduced, they need registration in key markets.  Investing in seed for processing means ensuring the final product can be shipped widely.  For GM innovations, this is a tremendous cost, but many other innovations will also need food, feed, environmental, or even drug registrations.

Registrations with Key Companies – On top of national registrations in key markets, seed companies must talk to important food processing and retail organizations.  Many of the world’s largest food businesses have their own standards for the products they market.  These standards may be just as important to delivering products to consumers as national registrations.

Engage the End User – The seed sector needs to do more to get into the boardrooms of the large food processing and manufacturing companies.  If the processors don’t know about the value of genetic purity and specialty traits, you can be certain consumers won’t.

Sell Product to Consumers – The Council on Biotech Information has done work to reach out to the consumer level but, on the whole, the large seed sector players do not sell the value of specialty products to a larger consumer audience.  When you look at the organics sector, the vegetable business, and the functional food industry elsewhere, the seed sector works with processors to talk about the value of traits and specific products. 

If we want to shoot toward higher value seed and crops by providing specialized products, then we must aim more closely at the goal.

January 2007