April 2020 - 25

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Collaborative marketing an option for pursuing expansion
BRIAN MOYER
Penn State Extension
bfm3@psu.edu
It's probably one of the least risky things
you can do to expand your marketing
channels.
So, what is a collaborative
At a recent grower meeting, I gave a
presentation on collaborative marketing.
Out of that meeting, a group of about
eight farms decided they have an
opportunity to do something together
that they couldn't do individually.
These farms have CSA's (community
supported agriculture) as their primary
business model during the growing
season. They do not have the capacity
to grow enough storage crops to offer
their customers a winter CSA share but
collectively they can. They are currently
working out the details such as who will
grow what? How many shares to offer?
What are the costs? Who will manage
the money?
The attractive thing about
collaborative marketing is you are not
forming a business entity to start. It is
an agreement on a project that can be
measured over a limited time period
at the end of which, decisions can be
made on whether to continue or not.
marketing agreement? Cornell has a
great publication on this:
www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/
wp-content/uploads/2012/05/
Collaborative-Marketing-for-Small-Farms10385vc.pdf.
It is well worth taking a look
if you are considering this opportunity.
According to the fact sheet,
" Collaborative marketing is a realistic
solution for small- to mid-size farms
that are seeking access to larger markets
but are unable to individually serve such
accounts. In collaborative marketing,
several likeminded producers join
together formally to market and
distribute farm products, but not
necessarily under the governance or
control of a cooperative. "
Once a group of farms decide
they want to collaborate, they
usually assume they need to form a
cooperative, but that isn't always best
way to move forward. The fact sheet
highlights several ways that farms can
collaborate, but I will focus on one
which is a joint venture agreement.
A joint venture agreement is usually
a limited term project as with the case
March. At the end of that time, they
can evaluate how well it did or didn't
work. If it works well, they can consider
forming a business entity such as a
cooperative or continue with a joint
venture agreement. They've also started
to discuss the potential of small-scale
wholesale opportunities.
Some key things need to be
considered with a joint venture
agreement. You need to identify the
producers who will participate. You
will need clearly define objectives. Who
are the customers currently not being
served? You will need to maintain
product availability across several farms.
The rationale for collaboration should
be clear.
If you are considering a wholesale
A summer CSA share from the Michigan
State University Student Organic Farm.
Photo: Denae Friedheim
of the CSA farms I'm working with.
In their situation, they've identified
the potential need. Their customers
currently aren't buying from them in
the winter. With a winter CSA, they can
market to an existing customer base and
won't need to attract new customers.
They've set a time period for the project
that will run from November through
project, start small with a limited
number of products. The expectations
need to clear and understood by
everyone involved. What is the
quantity of product? What grade?
How many units? How will it be
packaged? This will create a uniform
standard for all participants and
consistency for the customer.
Take a good look around you and see
where the opportunities are. If you can't
address them by yourself, see where you
can partner and grow your market. VGN
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April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2020
