Perhaps we are already very tired of hearing and reading about crises. From financial crises to viruses that travel around the world. And probably in the face of them we can sometimes feel defenseless because we cannot directly influence their solution.
In other words, see the coming wave from a distance, cross ourselves and wait to see how hard the blow is going to come.
One of these crises that we already have present is the food crisis.
According to experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the world will experience a large increase in the price of food in the next 10 to 12 months if problems such as the scarce supply of fertilizers, the fall in production by droughts in various producing countries and the blockade of grain shipments by sea from the port of Odessa in Ukraine.
In this particular case, David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program (WFP), mentioned that “we will be facing a complex problem because the warehouses may be full, but if there are no ships to transport them, we will be able to see situations of famine around the world. world”.
He also mentioned that a large and rapid increase in the number of hungry people in the world can lead to further destabilization and mass migration.
The recent events we have experienced, especially the effects of climate change, the COVID pandemic (and the problems it has caused in global supply chains) and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Russia and Ukraine together provide 28 percent of world exports of wheat; 29 percent of those of barley; 15 percent of those of corn, and 75 percent of those of sunflower oil) are causing this crisis to be in the sights of high-urgency quality specialists , especially due to the social instability that can arise due to food shortages.
It is not a simple problem. If the economic deactivation, the loss of jobs and income had already caused serious consequences in the population with fewer resources, now with the food crisis they are becoming even more acute.
The United Nations Organization (UN) pointed out that in 2020 approximately 155 million people in the world suffered from acute hunger and in 2021 the figure rose to 193 million. Currently, one in 10 people suffer from it.
And how does it affect us Mexicans? In the last year, according to INEGI data, (and they are not going to come out with the nonsense of “I have other data”) in Mexico, food prices increased by 12.6%, that is, 5 points higher of general inflation, although in some cases the increase was greater, such as the price of tortillas that increased 16%, bread 15.5%, chicken 13.5% and oils 37%. Combine these increases with the loss of income capacity to purchase food and the poverty rates, both moderate and extreme, that we have in the country. According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), 55.7 million Mexicans is the population that is in a situation of poverty.
And so, can we do something about it or not? Both those of us in the field of marketing and people “on foot” should not wait for the blow to come to us and we can put our grain of sand.
First, knowing that we must pay close attention to macro-environment phenomena in order to be sensitive in our marketing decisions, because this is not a new problem, but has been intensified by the aforementioned events and by the bad consumption habits of consumers. Humans.
Then, understand that within the very essence of marketing (which is to identify needs to seek to satisfy them) is our obligation to promote RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION, which implies making a conscious and critical consumption, which provokes, at the time of acquiring a product or service , either through social and environmental criteria to contribute to a favorable environment for all, guaranteeing consumption with the least possible impact on the environment, and thus contributing to improving the quality of life for all.
Practically, consume less and that what we consume is as sustainable and supportive as possible.
If we are about to suffer the food crisis, let us reflect: how much have we wasted causing an overproduction of food? How much have we provoked so that people consume beyond what they need?
We must take into account in our marketing communication decisions that we must work hard to promote conscious, ecological, critical, ethical and collaborative consumption to provoke responsible consumption.
That’s right, there are social and economic problems in the world that cause what is to come, but a lot also has to do with the way we consume and that cause environmental problems (one of the causes of the food crisis) such as deforestation, the invasion of plastics, the loss of biodiversity, etc.
The path that we give to the consumer from our brands, from our companies, to guide them with small but very important decisions is vital. The decisions that the consumer makes about what they should eat, where to buy their products or how much to spend on them is the responsibility of all of us in the industry.
There are already companies that are interested in it, and a great example is “Too Good to. Go”, which is an application that acts as an intermediary between restaurants or stores that put on sale products or food that they have not sold at the service of consumers so as not to waste food. Currently the application is available in most European countries and they invite their users to download the app and achieve “the most direct way to help reduce food waste by saving surplus food from your nearest establishments”.
They also invite food establishments to join the app by encouraging their business to be sustainable, helping them recover costs and reduce their carbon footprint.
In another interesting case is “Perfekto”, which is a weekly or fortnightly subscription service for food delivery, with which they are responsible for rescuing products that are at risk of being wasted for different reasons, such as:
They do not pass the strict aesthetic quality standards of traditional supermarkets (Example: color, size, shape)
They are surplus production
For the time of life that they have left (very ripe, very green or a few months before their expiration date or preferential consumption)
In this way, food waste is reduced and producers increase their profits by converting what could be lost into sales and supports consumers with savings of up to 30% on their purchases.
Isn’t it that we can do something?
Come marketers and advertisers! Get creative with small actions that can mean a lot in times of crisis!