Please let me introduce Greg Styers with BEJO Seeds.
Tell me a little about your education and career background
I began my career in agriculture at age 14 working as a detassler for a hybrid seed corn company, Doebler’s Hybrids, in PA. A detassler manually removes the tassel from a corn plant so it cannot pollinate itself and disrupt the hybrid process. I continued with this company working in production, distribution, and general farming all the way through college where I studied Business Management. From Doebler’s, I moved to Bejo Seeds in 1995 where I began as a Product Development Specialist covering all of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada.
What is your role with BEJO seeds and how long have you been with the company?
I am the Southeastern Regional manager responsible for all aspects of Marketing, Research, Sales, Dealer relations and Product Development. I have been with Bejo for 25 years this past March.
What do you like best about your job?
No two days are ever the same! My territory is Northern VA and all states East to the Mississippi and down to Florida. Bejo is a worldwide company based in The Netherlands and servicing more than 120 countries around the world. We are actively breeding in nearly 60 species of vegetables. So, there is much diversity and opportunity to learn and explore new things.
I love your company. How long have you been with BEJO?
I have been with Bejo for 25 years.
Do you enjoy the marketing aspect of your position with BEJO?
The marketing aspect is probably the most exciting role. I love to come up with new ideas. Not all are good or even practical but often, the byproduct of a not so good idea can be incorporated into everyday business and create more opportunities.
Are you involved in the research and development of new products?
Research and Development of new products is approximately 50-60% of my time. I work directly with our plant breeders, pathologists, scientists, and marketers on a regular basis. My role is to identify market demands such as improved disease resistance, new varieties, and new trends. I bring this information to the Bejo team and we work together to solve problems and bring new innovations or products to the market.
What are some of the marketing strategies that you and your company use?
We have a broad age group so reaching each customer requires thought. The broad age group, especially in agriculture, creates a challenge. A third of American farmers are over the age of 65 so reaching these farmers requires somewhat of a hybrid approach. Of course, not all these farmers are averse to social media or technology, but a high percentage of these farmers still rely on catalogs, trade shows, magazine ads, and personal visits.
The average age of a Bejo employee is 45, but we have a healthy number of employees 30 and under. The challenge here is providing these employees with the appropriate skills to effectively communicate outside of their own demographic. We provide the skillset needed but we also have a very specific profile when recruiting new employees. All this helps in how we market or communicate with our customers.
We use tools such as SugarCRM to collect and organize customer information. This helps us to have very precise communication experience right down to an individual level.
Our strategy for marketing our Tasti-Lee tomato: The first step was identifying a need in the marketplace for a consistently good tasting tomato variety, especially during the winter when retailers depend on mature green and greenhouse-grown tomatoes which are usually less flavorful and attractive. There was a real void in the marketplace for such a product! The second step was to develop a variety with improved flavor, improved color for eye appeal, improved firmness giving the ability to ship the tomato at peak ripeness, and of course a consistently good flavor year-round.
The next step was identifying and partnering with parties who had existing relationships and infrastructures with retailers. Once this was established, we took a team approach with growers and worked as a team with retailers to get Tasti-Lee on the shelf.
Once we had major retailers committed, we used social media, television, magazine advertisements, coupons, in-store demos, point of sales materials, and a call center for questions and comments. Our strategy was to take every approach and use every tool available. In the case of Tasti-Lee, we sold more product when the retailers advertised in print and social media together with the point of sale material; custom Tasti-Lee display bins, recipe cards and “Meet the Farmer” campaigns (normally a picture and short Bio of the farmer at the point of sale).
Due to COVID-19, this interview was not possible in person.
