CONSUMERISM AND MARKETING: WHAT IS EXPECTED OF AGRICULTURE?

Consumer awareness world wide, is on the increase. Agriculture should therefore pro-actively address the needs of consumers in order to plan future marketing strategies. This paper describes some of the key issues South African consumers are currently facing, such as rising food prices, lack of product information, need for stringently enforced health standards and an efficient grading system for fresh produce. As consumers become hard pressed to make ends meet they will become more sensitive of their rights and critical of the free market system. Agriculture can help consumers by making surplusses available to the poor, assisting educational and counselling programmes and promoting the free market system by selling directly to the informal sector. The challenge for agriculture lies in redressing marketing problems of the past in order to ensure that current and future business practices are beyond reproach