The Colorado agricultural industry is no secret. It provides a good harvest of money to the state and the residents by exporting products outside of Colorado and to some neighboring nations. Agriculture in Colorado provides nearly $1 billion in exports annually to Mexico, Canada, Japan and Korea – some of the largest importers of Colorado products.To capitalize further on Colorado’s agricultural component on a local level, the Department of Agriculture formed the Colorado Proud program, which promotes locally grown products to local consumers.In much the same way national manufacturers urge consumers to purchase products that are “made in the USA,” Colorado Proud promotes an in-state pipeline that identifies agricultural products grown on the ranches and farms of Colorado to the end consumer.The main role of the Department of Agriculture with the Colorado Proud program is advertising.”We really just want to increase the awareness of consumers and Colorado residents about what Colorado has to offer in terms of food and agricultural products,” said Wendy Lee White, marketing specialist for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.The slogan for the program is “better for you, better for Colorado.”Colorado Proud has grown its statewide membership to more than 575 growers, processors, restaurants, retailers and associations since its humble beginnings in 1999 with just 65 members. Those member companies do business with other Colorado companies as often as possible.This agricultural network gives Colorado consumers the educated choice of purchasing local products from grocery stores or patronizing restaurants that use local ingredients in their daily offerings. It also gives farmers that have been struggling with drought conditions a huge marketing advantage.”Right now, 76 percent of people who were surveyed said that they are very or somewhat familiar with the Colorado Proud logo,” said White. “That is really encouraging to us, that our advertising is paying off and we are really educating consumers about the states agricultural industry.”The marketing goldmine of this program is the supply chain identification system that gives Colorado growers a free point-of-purchase, feel-good advertisement to remind consumers that they can choose local products over out of state offerings.And, according to the Department of Agriculture, Colorado is a state that takes care of its own.”We have found that 92 percent of Coloradoans would buy more Colorado products if they were available and identified as being from Colorado,” White said. “We know we have support in the state for people to buy local.”Safeway and King Soopers have both become involved in the Colorado Proud identification process by displaying the program logo on products with local ties. A number of restaurants also in the program place the program logo near menu items containing Colorado ingredients.Although White concedes that having retailers involved in the program helps strengthen the message, the Safeway official spokesman for the program, Jeff Stroh, believes his company gets as much out of the program as they contribute.”By being a part of the program you really have an opportunity to learn about products that you might otherwise overlook. You have an opportunity to network with producers from throughout the state,” said Stroh. “I think it presents opportunities over the course of a year that you might miss.”Safeway, a founding member of the program, consciously builds on the branding that the Department of Agriculture has created.”On a year round basis we feature Colorado proud products in our weekly grocery inserts as well as some of our free-standing newspaper advertising,” said Stroh. “During the peak season for Colorado fruits and vegetables, we try to focus on Colorado Proud with in-store displays and signage.”Throughout the year, Safeway stores buy well over 100 million pounds of Colorado agricultural products that vary from apples and peaches to steak and potatoes as well as millions of gallons of milk.Stroh believes his company is a perfect fit for the Colorado Proud program and is impressed with the increased recognition that the program enjoys.”Whenever three-fourths of the people you randomly interview have some general idea of what Colorado Proud is and can recognize it in a super market, I think that is pretty good. So that is why we are involved.”In 2005, the Department of Agriculture plans to build on that success.”We hope to continue our advertising on television to promote the Colorado proud logo to consumers, restaurants and retailers and encourage them to buy locally grown and produced products,” White said. “Anything we can do to help get the logo and the “better for you better for Colorado” slogan out to the end consumer.”As the program continues to increase its membership and awareness, the main goal is to move product. And member companies, from the vineyards in the San Luis Valley to the wheat and corn farmers on the eastern plains, know they stand out on the shelves because of the Colorado Proud network.According to the Colorado Proud Web site, Colorado agriculture contributes nearly $16 billion annually to the state’s economy and ranks in the country’s top-10 for production of more than 30 agricultural products. The 31,361 farms and ranches in the state encompass 31.1 million acres – nearly half the state’s total land and help employ some of the more than 105,000 workers in Colorado related to agribusiness.For more information or to become a member, visit www.coloradoproud.org.
