Marketing GM Foods: The Way Forward

Introduction Genetically modified (GM) foodstuffs entered the global food system in the early to mid-1990s and are now in a wide selection of raw and processed foods. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has indicated that up to 70% of processed foods could contain GM ingredients if highly processed ingredients are considered. This rapid introduction of GM foods has been marked by two divergent marketing stories. In the first instance, the technology owners and developers (i.e., the biotechnology companies) have been effective in marketing their new products to farmers and producers. The adoption rates for GM varieties have been faster than any other recently introduced technology in the agrifood system (Kalaitzandonakes, 1999). Meanwhile, as input-trait GM foods were regulated as being substantially equivalent to traditional foods, this stance by definition precluded any explicit marketing effort. Most of the new products have been blended with conventional foods in global supply chains, such that consumers in many markets have not had any choice about whether to consume these products. Although most new input-trait GM foodstuffs were not proactively marketed to consumers, the few GM foods that were proactively marketed showed the potential value of effective marketing and successful product placement. The alternative is already starkly apparent. Citizens and consumers in a number of countries have demanded and got their governments or the markets to provide either legislation or proactive labeling systems for these products. This is counterproductive for both producers and consumers, as these regulatory and labeling systems tend to be blunt instruments for managing or signalling product attributes. More effective marketing is not simply nice to do—it may be a precondition for further investment and innovation in the agri-food system. Peter W.B. Phillips University of Saskatchewan, Canada