Membership
We have 9 financial members: Denmark; France; Germany; Lithuania, Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; United Kingdom. A new organisation is being formed in Japan, the Japan Blackcurrant Association, and it becomes a Country member from October 2015.
Potential Members
The Rules of the IBA allow for non-Grower Associations or organisations to represent a Country if no groups of growers are organised to do so. Countries with the potential to become members through grower or non-grower groups include Australia, China, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, USA. Strong research institutions and or innovative marketers in these countries could form the basis of a membership group and the IBA needs to explore this.
Non-voting Individual Membership
The new IBA Board should consider the introduction of an individual person/company membership (as opposed to a Country membership). The 2015 Conference has a Conference registration fee differential for members and non-members. This, plus other incentives and benefits, could see the successful introduction of an ”˜individual’ person/company membership.
Sponsorship
The successful development of the IBA in its present form came about through the vision of the early sponsors who “backed” an unknown group of people and their Vision: sponsors such as Four Leaf Japan (now Beneseed Japan), Jarrow USA, and CurrantC, followed by Weremczuk and Agrana, and then Austria Juice, New Holland, and Bayer Crop Science.
As the IBA’s strategies show their value within industry and within markets the IBA’s value to sponsors will continue to grow. In 2014 the IBA developed three new sponsor-specific strategies: strategies critical to the IBA achieving its Vision and also of very direct appeal and value to those sponsors: Austria Juice, New Holland Agriculture, and Bayer Crop Science. This inter-value strategic sponsorship model is the best model for an organisation like the IBA. Opportunities exist to significantly increase sponsorship in this manner in the years ahead.
A Global Consumer Positioning Platform: Blackcurrant-”˜the Stress Hero!’
In the last few years we have seen scientists start to focus on a specific consumer benefit that blackcurrants can provide. It can be best summed up with the ”˜strapline’/’hashtag’: Blackcurrant-the Stress Hero. Research already published, and more being published in 2015, shows blackcurrants can offer a significant value for sportspeople in reducing the harmful effects of rigorous exercise. And the benefit is not only for physical stress: research also shows a benefit for those in mentally stressful situations; and indicative secondary research suggests a benefit against dietary stress.
A research collaboration between New Zealand and Japan is investigating the potential of a blackcurrant supplement to be useful in reducing the harm of refined sugars in the diet. This has potential relevance for obesity issues and diabetes, and the overall global issue known as ”˜metabolic syndrome’.
Researchers also believe that there may be a link between this ”˜metabolic syndrome’ value and the value of blackcurrant supplements for sport stress. The IBA has a key role to play in continuing this focus by supporting researchers and promoting brands that champion the blackcurrant’s “ownership” of this platform. Such a simple and ”˜clean’ positioning platform is essential: most successful foods have one: none yet claim to be “the stress hero”. It is blackcurrants for the taking (or the losing!). Importantly, this position doesn’t detract from other research values: eye health and cardio health and the like. I believe research could one day show there is an underlying physiological effect from blackcurrants that links all of these values.
And such a position doesn’t detract from blackcurrants value as a food or beverage component: it in fact adds cache to the berry and enhances F&B marketing opportunities. Look to the blueberry phenomenon to understand this.
The Conference Organisers in Lithuania are to be thanked for making “Blackcurrant: the Stress hero” the theme of the 2015 Conference.
Growing the Market: the Strategies
The blackcurrant ”˜suffers’ from not being trendy or fashionable; despite the wonderful individual efforts of many individuals and companies. In 2014 the IBA introduced two strategies with the intention of changing the global mind-set towards the blackcurrant and Influencing the marketplace to use blackcurrants in new product development.
The New Holland Blackcurrant Food Heroes Project
This project has just gone “public” and is on our website www.internationalblackcurrantassociation.com
The IBA will promote exciting and novel, as well as traditional culinary uses, from around the world. Last year we asked members of the IBA to assist in this global search: response has been disappointing but understandable: this is new and “uncharted” territory for members (and it was for us too!).
But our website now has examples and every member of the IBA has the opportunity to add their information to it.
The Austria Juice New Product Development Unit
The big problem facing ”˜blackcurrants’ isn’t “research” or “quality” (nor at the moment “price”!):
- we have wonderful research (eg the UK Foundations Health Wheel),
- the vast majority of growers produce exceptional quality,
- and the low price right now is a sad joke!
So why aren’t blackcurrant products everywhere and growing on supermarket shelves? ”˜New product development’ is expensive and a long-term process. And usually market leaders follow rather than initiate real innovation: they watch small companies prove something before they commit to it. But perhaps one of the single best results of the establishment of the IBA has been the support of it by category champion and industry giant: Austria Juice. The IBA is working with Austria Juice to bring about a change in the global demand for blackcurrants. Ideas from the New Holland Food Heroes Project will provide a highly valuable source of ideas that could be suitable for high volume/global possibilities and these will be assessed by a team at Austria Juice. An international Sensory Symposium is also planned to be held at a prestigious European University, for leading food technologists and new product development decision-makers. We are looking at tactics that will make products happen: rather than hoping they might.
The Bayer Crop Science-IBA Agronomy & Plant Breeding Sector Group
At the core of the IBA’s activities is a rightful focus on agronomy and plant-breeding. As market demand develops, growers will look to maximise their own opportunities through growing berries from plants bespoke for phytochemical traits: traits to suit food and beverage applications and or proven health values. In 2014 the IBA “overhauled” its research resource and this is now available in an easy-to-use format on the IBA website.
In addition the newly-formed Sector Group, sponsored by BCS, will act as a catalyst for the ongoing conceptualisation and implementation of group initiatives/research topics/communications that can be of benefit to all growers. Over the next year we hope to introduce the IBA Variety Information Matrix (IBAVIM): a central information database for varieties.
Global Production and Pricing
The IBA’s primary role was, initially, to gather the global production stats and prices and make these public. The way we were doing it was dangerous in that we could have been accused of price fixing. Even if we can show historical pricing this might not be in the best interests of the growers to do so: if we can only show an “average” it makes it difficult for quality and innovation investment by growers to be rewarded: an average price lowers everyone’s expectations. But from the EU presentation at Poland, showing a detailed breakdown of historical pricing for a previous season could still be considered price manipulation. At the Conference in June the Board will decide what information the IBA should gather and promote on the Weremczuk-sponsored IBA Global Production Chart.
Bill Floyd, General Manager IBA, May 2015
