Quality of various foods

"Please act on my survey!"

The opening question of the survey was: "How would you describe the quality of the following kinds of food sold in your community IN THE PAST 3 MONTHS (December 2000, January and February 2001)?" Customers were asked to rate the quality of a list of fresh perishable foods from poor, to fair, to good or excellent. Answers "left blank" were also tracked.

The responses to this question were quite variable. They ranged from good and excellent for eggs, to poor and fair for fresh meat in all communities. However, from one community to the other, very similar trends were observed in terms of perceived food quality. For instance, bananas and grapes were identified as being poor or fair by more than 75% of the Labrador customers surveyed. Also, more than 77% of Labrador customers said that frozen meat was of poor or fair quality with 41% of them listing it as of poor quality. The following foods were identified as being of poor or fair quality and are presented in ascending order from poorest to fair quality: frozen meat (77%), bananas and grapes (75%), lettuce, tomatoes and peppers (73%), berries (68%), fresh meat (67%, with 46% rating it as of poor quality), apples and oranges (67%), broccoli and cauliflower (64%), potatoes (59%), carrots, onions, turnips and cabbage (56%), frozen vegetables (55%) and bread (51%).

Only two products were rated as being of good or excellent quality by a majority of Labrador customers, namely, eggs (74%) and fresh milk (59%).

Berries and fresh meat had a high percentage of n/a’s, accompanied by customers’ comments that they could not rate these products because they simply were not available.

The question that retailers were asked was very similar to the one customers were asked: "How would you describe the quality of the following food available in your store IN THE PAST THREE MONTHS (December 2000, January and February 2001)?".

To that question, most retailers answered that all products had either good or excellent quality, and only the following few foods were rated fair: bananas and grapes; carrots, onions, turnips and cabbage; lettuce, tomatoes and peppers; broccoli and cauliflower; bread; and fresh milk. Only one retailer rated the quality of apples and oranges as poor.

Please note that eggs were not included in the retailers’ questionnaire.

In an effort to capture the overall satisfaction of customers in each community and of retailers, an index was developed by simply multiplying by a factor of one for "poor" ratings, of two for "fair" ratings, of three for "good" ratings and of four for "excellent" ratings. These scores were then divided by the number of respondents who rated each product to obtain a score for each community and for all customers and retailers. Average scores ranged from 2.04 for customers in Postville to 3.23 for retailers, indicating the least satisfaction with the quality of food from the former and most satisfaction with the latter. See Table 3 for more details.

Table 3. Index of Perceived Food Quality

Retailers’ problems with the quality of certain foods

In a follow-up question, retailers were asked to list the foods they have the greatest problem with in terms of quality. Individual retailers listed bananas, Red Delicious apples, fresh milk, grapes, carrots, cabbage and broccoli. These answers are consistent with quality problems raised by customers except for fresh milk, one of the few products identified as being of good or excellent quality by a majority of the respondents.

Change in quality of food since the previous year

Also in a follow-up question about quality, both customers and retailers were asked if they had noticed a change in the quality of food since the same period of time the year before. Possible answers included: improved a lot, improved a little, stayed the same or become worse. Twenty percent of customers indicated an improvement, but the vast majority (65%) claimed there had not been any change. A little over 1 in 10 (12%) stated that the quality of food had become worse.

As for retailers, 67% claimed that the quality of food had improved since the same time last year and the balance, 33%, stated that the quality had remained the same.

Price variation since the previous year

In question number 8, customers were asked: "Since this time last year, how has the price of fruit and vegetables in your community changed?" A majority of customers (63%) indicated that prices had gone up since the same time last year. While question 4 revealed that about the same percentage of customers (65%) believed the quality of fresh foods had remained the same, about the same percentage also believed that the prices for these products had gone up. Although it is well-known that transportation costs have increased significantly, mainly because of rising energy costs, the Food Mail Program postage rates have been maintained at the same level since 1993, with only a few changes made to qualifying products in 1996. Therefore, if in fact prices have gone up as perceived by customers, other factors (e.g., truck transportation, greenhouse and warehouse heating costs) may be responsible for driving up the price.

Is there a season when the quality of food is better, worse?

In an attempt to identify whether seasonal factors affect the quality of food available in Labrador communities, both customers and retailers were asked in what season they found the quality to be best or worst. Spring, summer, fall and winter were listed as possible answers for both the best and worst time. Respondents did use all possible combinations by selecting more than one season. However, we only used the five most common answers which were: for best season(s), spring, summer, fall, winter and summerfall; and for worst season(s), spring, summer, fall, winter and spring-winter.

For the best season, 56% of customers selected summer, while 50% of retailers chose fall and another 33% chose spring. As for the worst season for quality of food, 41% of customers selected winter while 33% of retailers selected summer. None of the retailers picked summer as the season for the best quality of food. The trend here is one that we have observed in other questions concerning the quality of food, and highlights the opposing views of customers and retailers. The reasons for these differences in customers’ and retailers’ views are unknown.

What people say they would do if the quality of food improved

When asked what they would do if the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables improved in their community, 58% of customers said they would buy a lot more of them, and another 30% stated they would buy a bit more.

When asked if they thought they would sell more fresh fruits and vegetables if the quality improved, a third of the retailers agreed they would sell a bit more, with another third stating they did not think they would sell more, while the remaining third admitted they did not know what the effect would be.

Impact on prices if quality of food improved

Because efforts are being made to increase the quality of fresh perishable foods by improving handling during all stages of transportation from wholesaler to retailers, retailers were asked how better quality products would affect prices. Possible answers ranged from increasing prices because customers would be willing to pay more, lowering prices because retailers would have less spoilage, or continuing to charge the same price. Half of the retailers said they would keep the same price on these fresh foods, while another third said they would lower prices. No one said they would increase the prices, but one retailer declined to answer that question.

Main cause of quality problems according to retailers

In question 9, retailers were presented with a list of 8 possible causes for quality problems with fresh perishable foods. Half of the retailers said flight delays were the main cause of quality problems and a further third also identified all of the following: poor handling by the airline, poor quality available from suppliers in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, poor temperature control on the plane and inadequate storage facilities at the airport. Another third of the retailers said they did not have any problem with the quality of foods and one (17%) said that the packaging was not adequate. None chose damage in getting the food from the airport to their store as a possible cause of quality problems.

Food spoilage

Question 10 asked retailers: "How much of the following foods have you thrown out because of poor quality or spoilage in a typical week DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS (December 2000, January and February 2001)." For most of the products listed, retailers indicated that less than 5% had to be disposed of due to spoilage. A few indicated that they sometimes had between 5 and 10% spoilage. Only 1 retailer (not necessarily the same) identified having spoilage of 10 to 20% for apples, bananas and grapes and fresh milk. One retailer indicated having spoilage of 20 to 40% for carrots and cabbage.

There is no set industry norm for food spoilage in the food retail sector. However, it is generally agreed that spoilage is between 3 and 17% - spoilage is higher for highly perishable foods. Considering the transportation challenges and the particular weather conditions in Labrador and northern communities in general, spoilage of under 5% for most fresh foods as indicated by a majority of Labrador retailers is worth noting. With 95% of fresh foods sold to customers, according to the surveyed retailers, the customers’ poor satisfaction rating is not surprising.

Variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available

For the second survey question, customers were asked: "Is there enough variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available?" Respondents were given the option to tick one of the following answers: never, sometimes, most of the time or always.

In all the Labrador communities where the survey was conducted, 80% of customers or more said there was never or sometimes enough variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available. In Postville, 61% of its respondents indicated there was never enough variety.

In contrast, only 20% of the retailers said that they sometimes had enough variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. Eighty percent indicated that most of the time, variety was available.

Again, in an effort to capture the overall satisfaction of customers in each community and of retailers regarding the variety of fresh foods, an index was developed by simply multiplying by a factor of one for "never" ratings, of two for "sometimes" ratings, of three for "most of the time" ratings and of four for "always" ratings. These scores were then divided by the number of respondents to obtain a score, for each community and for all customers and retailers. Averages ranged from 1.50 for Postville to 2.80 for retailers, indicating the least satisfaction with the variety of fresh foods from the former and most satisfaction with the latter. See Table 5 for more details.

Table 5. Index of Perceived Variety of Fresh Foods

Finally, a consolidated index was developed using both indexes (Table 3 and 5), on quality and variety, to determine differences in satisfaction level from customers in the six communities surveyed. By combining both indexes and dividing them by two, a consolidated index was obtained. This index reveals that Postville, Rigolet and Hopedale consistently rank first, second and third in customer dissatisfaction with the quality and variety of fresh foods offered in their communities. Nain ranked fourth, Makkovik fifth and Black Tickle sixth in terms of customer dissatisfaction with quality and variety of fresh foods available.

As for the retailers, they consistently scored highest in these indexes, indicating the highest level of satisfaction with the quality and variety of fresh foods offered. Please see Table 6 for more details.

Table 6. Consolidated Index of Quality and Variety of Fresh Foods

Fresh foods bought by customers or received by retailers in the previous month

Question 3 on the foods bought allows us to profile the average Labrador customer. We know that the most commonly bought fruits are apples (93%), oranges (88%), bananas (79%) and grapes (59%); and that to a lesser degree, frozen juice (34%), kiwi (25%), plums (16%), grapefruits (15%), berries (11%) and melons (10%) are all part of Labradorians’ winter diet. Furthermore, the most commonly purchased vegetables include potatoes (92%), onions (89%), carrots (86%), turnips (81%), frozen French fries (74%), cabbage (70%), tomatoes (62%), lettuce (57%), peppers (48%) and to a lesser degree, mushrooms (30%), broccoli (27%), celery (19%), cauliflower (18%), cucumber (12%), spinach (3%) and squash (1%).

Dairy products and frozen meat, pizza and fish were also on the list of products in the questionnaire. Most of these products were purchased by a majority of customers, except for boxed milk (34%), powdered milk (6%) and fish (32%).

When looking at the types of foods bought in the previous month, we are able to establish that a majority of customers bought between 3 and 5 fruits (60%), 5 and more vegetables (78%), or that more than 73% of customers bought a combined 10 or more fruits or vegetables indicating a strong preference for variety. More than half of the customers (53%) bought 4 or more dairy products, although almost 1 in 4 households did not buy any milk, whether fresh or boxed. However, 65% of Labrador households bought evaporated milk, reflecting a tradition of buying milk in a form that can be easily stored and that offers consistent quality. Finally, almost 1 in 3 customers did not buy any frozen meat or fish (28%), reflecting the high reliance on country food for protein, and perhaps reflecting the poor quality of store meats available.

Retailers were asked what food they had received by Food Mail in the 4 weeks before they completed the survey. Of the fruits listed in the survey, 1 in 2 retailers stated having received berries and frozen juice, and 5 of 6 had received plums, melons and grapefruit. All said they had received apples, oranges, bananas, grapes and kiwi. Of the vegetables listed, 1 in 6 retailers stated having received squash, only half had received spinach, but more than 60% had cucumber and frozen French fries air-lifted, and 5 of 6 had received cabbage or potatoes. All retailers declared having received lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, turnips, onions, celery and mushrooms during the past four weeks through the Food Mail Program.

None of the responding retailers had received powdered or evaporated milk, most likely indicating that these products are not being air-lifted through the Food Mail Program, but rather transported by marine service before freeze-up. Also, among dairy products, only a third of the retailers indicated having received boxed milk during the same period, again, possibly because that product had arrived by marine service the previous fall.

What is keeping people from buying more fresh fruit and vegetables?

"I feel that my children aren’t used to eating or even following Canada’s Food Guide because a fresh fruit in our home is a luxury, a privilege."

In question 7, customers were asked what was keeping them from buying more fresh fruit and vegetables. Customers were asked to choose from 14 different reasons with the option of adding one if necessary. Of all available options, 5 main reasons appear to explain why people are not buying more fresh fruit and vegetables: these foods cost too much (80%), they often are not available (77%), their quality is poor (69%), there is not enough variety (56%) and customers say they cannot afford them (41%).

Foods not reaching Labrador communities

When asked if there were any fresh or frozen foods retailers would like to sell that are not usually available from their supplier, a majority of them (67%) said there were none. However, 2 retailers (33%) said yes and listed baby food, variety of squash, melons, salads, different fruit varieties, and other fresh fruit, e.g., strawberries.

In an open-ended question at the end of the survey, customers were asked if they had any comments and suggestions to make and, more specifically, if there were any fresh or frozen foods they would like to see at their store that are not usually available. The most frequent comments related to the need for more variety and to the freshness of fruits and vegetables, meat (e.g., baby back ribs and lean ground beef), both fresh and frozen, including deli meats and country food, fish (e.g., cod, capelin, salmon, char, arctic char, smoked char and seal) and seafood (e.g., scallops, crab, shrimp and lobster).

Complaints from customers

"If there’s something rotting or moldy, they should not even put it on the shelves to buy."

Question 8 to retailers asked how often they received complaints from customers about food quality. A third (2) of retailers said they never received complaints, while the other two thirds (4) said they received complaints once in a while. Considering the findings from the customer surveys previously described, retailers’ answers to this question are puzzling, to say the least. Further comments expressed by customers in the following section suggest that retailers should be receiving complaints from the former more often than once in a while.

General comments and suggestions

In the last question of their survey, customers were asked to add general comments and suggestions. Two thirds of the customers felt the need to add comments to the survey. These comments reinforce the idea that foods in Labrador are very expensive in view of their quality, i.e., freshness, and, that there is a need for more variety of available fresh perishable foods. Strongly worded comments were made by customers about the quality of the frozen meats, that they often described as freezer-burned. Similar comments were made about the fact that spoiled and out-of-date foods were left on shelves to be sold.

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