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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 4, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
SAMANTHA STINNETT
Circulation Manager
SARAH SILVER
Advertising Sales Manager
OUR VIEW
Effective marketing can make all the difference
ost experts would agree
that the worst market-
ing plan ever is this:
“Our product is pretty much the
same as everyone else’s.”
Yet, for many farmers, ranch-
ers and fishermen, that may well
be their marketing plan — or lack
thereof. Seafood, crops and live-
stock are often marketed en masse
with little or no differentiation
from others.
They are price-takers.
Those who carve out a niche
for their catch, crops and livestock
can make the transformation to
price-setters.
One example of a readily rec-
ognized niche is for foodstuffs
that are caught sustainably or
raised organically. Some custom-
ers seek out these products and
are willing to pay a premium price
for them.
Many beef producers market
their cattle based on how they are
raised or the breed. Grass-fed and
hormone-free are just two exam-
ples of niches. Wagyu cattle, a
breed originally from Japan, pro-
duce highly marbled beef and
extraordinary prices. A wagyu
ribeye steak for sale online was
priced at $138 a pound.
That’s the advantage of being a
price-setter.
Similarly, some wheat growers
market their crop as unique, either
in how it is grown or how their
cooperative is organized. Some
even help consumers trace flour
back to the farm where it was
M
Chinook Observer
The ‘Oyster Crew’ — Dan Findley, Bill Coffin and John Ducharme — kept the seafood
coming at a local festival. Taylor Shellfish donated 1,800 oysters.
WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETINg, NICHE IS THE
THINg. IT IS OFTEN THE dIFFERENCE BETWEEN
BEINg A PRICE-TAKER ANd A PRICE-SETTER.
raised.
Some ranchers sell their beef
directly to customers online.
Many of those customers become
loyal because they get to know the
ranchers’ families.
When it comes to West Coast
oysters and clams, perhaps no
one does a better job of market-
ing than Taylor Shellfish Farms,
whose website, oyster bars and
farm stores tout the company’s
history and practices.
In the food world, perhaps
no farmers have developed the
concept of niche more than the
French. Not only is food produced
in France marketed as its own
niche, but food and wine from
various provinces and regions are
marketed as special.
Everyone knows that “cham-
pagne” sparkling wine must come
from the Champagne region, but
do they know about black truf-
fles from Dordogne, or scallops
and oysters from Brittany, cheese
from the French Alps, ham from
Bayonne, garlic from Uzes, chili
peppers from Espelette or the
unique blue-legged chickens from
Bresse?
In their own ways, each of
these products is unique, and con-
sumers willingly pay higher prices
for them.
France is not alone in its
niche-centric marketing. In Spain,
the ham is considered to be so
special there is a museum ded-
icated to it in Madrid. Called
Jamon Iberico, it and its cousin,
Jamon Serrano, sell for many
times the price of U.S. ham. It
sells for $13 an ounce online.
As a whole, the wine indus-
try has perfected niche market-
ing. Not only is wine from vari-
ous regions marketed separately
— think Napa Valley or Willa-
mette Valley — but it is marketed
by its American Viticultural Area,
or AVA.
California has 139 AVAs, Wash-
ington state has 20 and Oregon
has 23. Each has its own geog-
raphy, climate and soil. The fed-
eral Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau approves each
AVA. A 5,530-acre AVA was just
approved for the Mount Pisgah
Polk County area in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley.
In turn, many wineries market
their wines based on the region
and the AVA they are in.
Like so many other food pro-
ducers, they know that when it
comes to marketing, niche is the
thing. It is often the difference
between being a price-taker and a
price-setter.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Someone was missing
I
am writing to thank the Oregon News-
paper Publishers Association for hosting
the first gubernatorial debate of 2022.
Last Friday, I was watching the debate
you hosted, and noticed someone was
missing. Of the multiple candidates run-
ning for governor of Oregon, only three of
them were invited to attend. A duly elected
Libertarian candidate, R. Leon Noble, had
been excluded, and I would like to know
why.
Noble earned the nomination of the
Libertarian Party of Oregon during the pri-
mary election held in June. Unlike other
“minor” parties, Libertarians do not need
to spend millions of dollars on a primary
campaign in order to ensure ballot access.
Could it be that Noble was excluded
because, in this day of “pay-to-play” poli-
tics, he has yet to raise the millions of dol-
lars? Betsy Johnson is still collecting sig-
natures to appear on the November ballot.
Noble has no such hurdle to overcome, yet
he was excluded from the debate.
Are you trying to silence candidates
who haven’t “paid their way” into the gov-
ernor’s race? Or are you concerned that the
people of Oregon might hear a message
that disturbs the status quo? Most Orego-
nians can agree that neither Tina Kotek,
Christine Drazan, nor Johnson represent
them. Why can’t those disenfranchised
voters hear from a candidate who will?
For more information on the Libertar-
ian candidate for governor, please visit his
website, SetOregonFree.com
SHARLYN COX
Legacy media director, Set Oregon Free
Roseburg
We need great ideas
T
here has been so much talk about what
to do with the homeless situation in
our community. Homelessness is happen-
ing across the country, and it is a reflec-
tion of the many challenges going on in
the U.S.
We need viable long-term ideas, not
short-term Band-Aids, to help the home-
less in Astoria. I wrote an opinion recently,
and I stand by it. The first step is to reopen
the mental health hospitals and get the
patients off the street who need help.
Many are on drugs because they are
self-medicating instead of getting the care
they need. This needs to change. These
people are at risk to themselves and others.
It is unfair and wrong to expect our police
officers to manage the mentally ill.
I realize there is a large group of home-
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
less people who do not fall in the category
of needing mental health support. That
group needs to be addressed, too. Setting
up camping sites does not solve the prob-
lem — it truly creates more problems. We
now have trash everywhere. That is only
one of the problems that are occurring
with the current situation.
There are many empty hotels, build-
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
ings, possibly military camps, where hous-
ing could be created, along with commu-
nity centers to help people get back on
their feet. We need great ideas that are sus-
tainable. The resources are out there to
make these changes. Anything is possible,
if we work together as a community.
MARY HADREAS
Astoria
Honorable thing
recently went walking on the path-
way near the Columbia River, east of
downtown Astoria. Upon returning to my
car, I noticed that my billfold, with all
my important documents, was not in my
pants pocket. I searched for several days,
attempting to find the billfold, but was not
successful.
I received a letter from the Astoria Police
Department that a billfold was turned into
their office, and informed me to make an
appointment at their location. I went up to
Astoria and the billfold was, in fact, the one
I lost. Everything was untouched.
I would like to thank the person who
found my billfold and turned it over to the
police. In this time in our nation’s division
and turmoil, I thank the person, the city
and the public servants, the local police, for
doing the right and honorable thing. I’m
glad I live in this area, with its honorable
citizens.
ROBERT BALL
Seaside
I