Digna Love was born in St. Lucia, and has been eating healthy foods
since she was a child. When she moved to the United States in 2001, she
discovered that a lot of foods in the US were not as healthy and
delicious as she’d like them to be.
One of the most popular
varieties of apples being sold all over the country is Red Delicious.
However, the popularity of this variety of apples has much more to do
with marketing than with the taste of the fruit.
First, Red
Delicious apples have deep red skins. The research shows that people
associate the taste of apples with a deep red skin color, even though in
reality really red apples may have a subpar taste. Next, there is the
word “delicious” in the name of the variety. The fact that a variety of
apples has the word “delicious” in it makes some people think that the
reason why the apples have “delicious” in the name is because of their
taste. This name has nothing to do with taste. It’s all about marketing
and sales.
For these reasons, Red Delicious variety is still a
clear winner when it comes to sales. Even though varieties of apples
like Gala, Fuji, and Braeburn are becoming more and more popular, and
certainly can compete with Red Delicious on taste, they still lag behind
in sales.
There are over 8,000 varieties of apples in the world.
However, there are only about 150 commercially important varieties of
food in the world today. The reason why these 150 are the chosen ones is
simple: they transport well and they look great on a shelf.
Big
corporations also strive to have the same kinds of products everywhere
they operate. All this started with McDonalds becoming successful
selling the same kind of burger all over the country, and now all over
the world. Starbucks is also doing its best to have coffee that tastes
the same in all of its stores. Big food corporations followed. They want
every slice of Kraft Single to taste the same, and every Dole pineapple
to taste just like every other Dole pineapple. This allows brands to
have an identity in customers’ minds. This is the way they control
quality.
The problem with this approach is that foods require a
lot of processing to taste the same every year in every country. This
kind of processing kills distinctive flavors, and many of the nutrients
of food. In order to compensate for the lost flavor, big corporations
load their products with fats, salt, sugar, and other substances and
mixes that taste really good, but are really unhealthy. The only places
where the same foods grow all year are places in warm climates, like the
island of St. Lucia, where Digna Love grew up.
