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THE keynote speaker during the U.S. Apple Association's Crop Outlook & Marketing Conference in Chicago this past August was Kenneth Gronbach of KGC Direct, LLC. Based in Haddam, CT, Gronbach is a demographer, meaning he studies the patterns and characteristics of the human population. As he puts it, "what money is to an economist, people are to me."
Gronbach's presentation was titled "How To Profit From The Coming Demographic Storm." He focused mainly on the dynamic swings in population levels over the last 100 years, and how this has affected, and will continue to affect, the volume of consumption and consumer demand.
Although Gronbach's presentation was not specifically devoted to the apple industry, there were a few points he made that I wanted to highlight in terms of what they could potentially mean to fruit growers and their market potential in the coming years. Each of these points relate to one of the generations he discussed at length.
Baby Boomers
We all know how big the Baby Boomer generation is, and as these individuals near retirement...