In June, some of the Ag Entrepreneurship team members (including myself)visited New York City for the Fancy Food Show. The Fancy Food Show provided many new marketing avenues for industry members. In today's post (and the next few), I am going to discuss what I saw at the show and how I think my observations could help entrepreneurs change their marketing techniques or at least update some of the strategies they are using currently. Some of these new ideas include different packaging, flavors, sizes/portions, health conscious, non-edible agricultural products, and restaurant/ wholesale distribution.
Packaging and product design are important parts of product delivery. No matter how great a product may be, a customer may overlook it if the packaging and/or design of the product isn’t eye-catching. For example, JF & B Co (http://www.jfnb.co.kr/) produces frozen chocolates and cakes with beautiful gold overlay, bold colors, and interesting shapes including leaves, roses, hearts, moose, and four leaf clovers. JF & B Co also offers decorations made of chocolate with custom designs or logos. Azienda Agricola Fejoia (www.fejoia.it) is a wine maker in Bergamo, Italy who sells their wine in slightly different-than-average bottles. Azienda bottles their wine in tall, thin bottles. Sitting next to an average wine bottle, the Azienda bottles seem sleeker and catch the eye. Another interesting package is that of Sence Nectar (http://www.sencenectar.com/). Sence is a rose nectar beverage bottled in a clear, textured, cone-shaped bottle with a metal lid. The light pink color of the liquid shines nicely through the bottle creating an almost stained glass appearance.
Not only is Sence Nectar bottled in an eye-catching container, but is also a unique flavor. Sence is made from the extract of the Kazanlak Rose found in Bulgaria. It can be used as a mixer with spirits or served separately as an alternative to juices and soft drinks. Also popular at the Fancy Food Show were honeys. Two companies stood out in the honey market. Both Crystal’s Honeys (http://mvabeepunchers.com/honey/crystals_honey.php) and The Bee Cave Honey Company (http://www.beebutter.com/) have infused flavors and textures into their honey. Crystal’s Honeys offers flavors like wild blueberry, orange blossom, cranberry, and western clover as well as textures like chunky honey. The Bee Cave Honey Company specializes in whipped honey. They take raw honey and whip it until it is smooth and creamy and then add flavors like cinnamon, strawberry, and lemon.
As an entrepreneur, what kind of packaging are you using? Do you think it stands out from competitors? Have you tried to integrate new flavors and/or textures into your products?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Penn State Extension and Agricultural Entrepreneurship
There has long been debate about whether entrepreneurship can be taught. I often tell folks that being an entrepreneur is like being an artist. Anyone can draw a portrait of a landscape, say, but some people will be better able to convey colors, shadows, perspective, distance, etc. Likewise, anyone can operate a business or undertake new ventures, but some will be more successful because they have a skill set that enables them to manage and lead better than others can.
Just as you might learn elements of art in a basic course, it is wholly possible to learn elements of entrepreneurship. Management skills such as business planning, marketing, financial management, etc. are all taught in universities around the world. Entrepreneurs put these pieces together to take advantage of opportunities to create new ventures or make existing ones better.
Penn State Extension offers training for agricultural entrepreneurs.
Just as you might learn elements of art in a basic course, it is wholly possible to learn elements of entrepreneurship. Management skills such as business planning, marketing, financial management, etc. are all taught in universities around the world. Entrepreneurs put these pieces together to take advantage of opportunities to create new ventures or make existing ones better.
Penn State Extension offers training for agricultural entrepreneurs.
- "Income Opportunities in Agriculture" is a one-day workshop that provides opportunities to learn from other entrepreneurs about their ventures.
- "Food for Profit," usually offered in one day, provides important management information for those interested in small-scale food business. Participants learn about business management as well as food safety practices, etc.
- "Annie's Project" is multi-session course targeted to women farmers. It provides training on managing farm risks in a way that best suits the unique learning styles of women.
- "Exploring Your Small Farm Dream" is a multi-session course targeted at people who have a few acres and who are thinking about a farm venture.
- "Your Future in Focus" is a multi-session course designed to walk participants through a business planning process. At the end, participants will have learned about the many facets of farm business management and should also have a draft of a written business plan.
In addition to these curriculum-based educational activities, we also offer many workshops and courses on topics including financial management, farm succession planning, marketing, etc. Our goal is to provide training on the management skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur. As with artists, some will combine those skills more successfully than others. However, without these skills, the business owner is at a competitive disadvantage and is likely to fail in their venture.
As Extension State Program Leader for Entrepreneurship and Value-Added Ag, I am really proud of the depth of programming we have to offer. Even with this, we are working hard to improve our programs to meet the needs more effectively. I'll keep you in the loop as we move forward. If you have any questions about our programs, contact me at jeffhyde@psu.edu.
Monday, July 6, 2009
What are people saying about your business online?
If someone was talking about you (positively or negatively), you would want to know about it, right? If someone was speaking your praises, you would want to thank them. Conversely, if someone was speaking poorly about you, you would want to set the record straight. The same is true for your business. But today, someone can just as easily talk about your business face-to-face as they can post to a blog, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Your business's reputation is just as important in brick-and-mortar as it is online. Customers are not just going to your website to get information about your business. You must also manage your web presence for postings from people outside your organization. The internet is a place where anyone (fan or critic) can express their opinions about anyone and anything. Don't be oblivious (or vulnerable) to rumors, complaints, review sites, blogs, etc.
In a BusinessWeek article, Tom Kurz, co-founder of The Escapist, a video gaming site, explains what his company does to monitor their online reputation. With technology (especially social media) changing frequently, small businesses are feeling overwhelmed by trying to manage their web presence. Kurz warns, "If you don't control the message, somebody else does...For a small company with $1 million in sales, when a rumor flies about their product or service, it could sink their entire business."
Seems pretty scary, doesn't it? There are many free tools to help you manage your online reputation. Google Alerts, Google News, Yahoo Alerts, Technorati.com, BlogPulse.com, BoardTracker.com, Keotag.com, and BuzzLogic.com monitor blogs, forums, social networking sites, and/or news for your business's name (or any other search term). If you find posts about your business, you need to respond to it immediately. Kurz explains, "What we want to know is if people are talking positively about us, so we can link to it. If they're talking negatively, we want to address the issue right away...Oh, we've had to do some major damage control. I can't tell you how many times someone will post something and blame us for something we had nothing to do with. If we get there pretty quickly, we can address a negative comment directly with the person who made the post, or we can go to the site itself and make a post...If you go to the source and explain truthfully where you're coming from, you buy good will from people who were flaming you. There's nothing better than to turn an adversary into an advocate..."
business reputation article
As an entrepreneur, are you managing your business's online reputation? What tools are you using to find online information? If you have found negative posts, what have you done to curtail the negativity?
Your business's reputation is just as important in brick-and-mortar as it is online. Customers are not just going to your website to get information about your business. You must also manage your web presence for postings from people outside your organization. The internet is a place where anyone (fan or critic) can express their opinions about anyone and anything. Don't be oblivious (or vulnerable) to rumors, complaints, review sites, blogs, etc.
In a BusinessWeek article, Tom Kurz, co-founder of The Escapist, a video gaming site, explains what his company does to monitor their online reputation. With technology (especially social media) changing frequently, small businesses are feeling overwhelmed by trying to manage their web presence. Kurz warns, "If you don't control the message, somebody else does...For a small company with $1 million in sales, when a rumor flies about their product or service, it could sink their entire business."
Seems pretty scary, doesn't it? There are many free tools to help you manage your online reputation. Google Alerts, Google News, Yahoo Alerts, Technorati.com, BlogPulse.com, BoardTracker.com, Keotag.com, and BuzzLogic.com monitor blogs, forums, social networking sites, and/or news for your business's name (or any other search term). If you find posts about your business, you need to respond to it immediately. Kurz explains, "What we want to know is if people are talking positively about us, so we can link to it. If they're talking negatively, we want to address the issue right away...Oh, we've had to do some major damage control. I can't tell you how many times someone will post something and blame us for something we had nothing to do with. If we get there pretty quickly, we can address a negative comment directly with the person who made the post, or we can go to the site itself and make a post...If you go to the source and explain truthfully where you're coming from, you buy good will from people who were flaming you. There's nothing better than to turn an adversary into an advocate..."
business reputation article
As an entrepreneur, are you managing your business's online reputation? What tools are you using to find online information? If you have found negative posts, what have you done to curtail the negativity?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Local Foods: A Balanced Approach is Needed
Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly involved with different projects that involve some aspect of local food system development. Given my interest and expertise, most of the focus has been on differentiating products by promoting the fact that they were produced locally. That is, consumer demand for locally-produced goods creates an opportunity for agricultural and food producers to realize higher margins. How big is this market, though? How much are consumers really willing and able to pay for local foods? Do consumers perceive "local" as being synonymous with other notions such as "small, family farms?"
Recently, I attended the National Value-Added Agriculture Conference. The keynote speaker was Gary Zimmer, a farmer, consultant, speaker, marketer... Gary owns and operates Midwest Bio-Ag, with offices in the upper Midwest. He is an organic farmer who markets a great deal of products in his local region. However, he presented a pragmatic, balanced view on the topic of local foods. What follows is a bit of Gary's thoughts with some of my own mixed in. I'll not presume that Gary would support everything below, so I'll take full responsibility for it. One word of caution: do not infer anything other than what I have written.
It's difficult to argue that there are not very real economic motivations behind how most food is grown and distributed in this country. The US climate is diverse and some things just naturally grow better in some areas than they do in others. We also have distinct growing seasons in most regions. This has led to large-scale production in areas where specific foods can be produced at low cost. That production can also be transported relatively quickly and efficiently to just about anywhere else in the country because of our distribution system. This has led to low-cost food at the retail level, an important objective in this country.
Because the low cost objective has been a key driver of how our food system works today, then it's almost by definition that, in most cases, locally produced foods are not going to be cheaper than if they were grown elsewhere. Scale economies, which lead to lower unit costs, are real. So, from a production cost standpoint, bigger is better. Local foods, in many cases, have been purchased primarily by those with relatively high incomes. They are somewhat of a luxury good, embodying not only freshness but support for local economies, etc. This begs the question, if locally produced foods are healthier and fresher, how can they be produced in a way that makes them accessible by everyone, even those with relatively low incomes?
We can't really expect the government to make this happen, can we? Is it the government's role to provide the BEST food or food that is GOOD ENOUGH? If the role is not for government to fill, then will the market make it happen? The market rewards production and marketing efficiency. The market got us to where we are. It's tough to fight the market! Consumers vote with their dollars. While many would love to buy food locally, many just can't afford it. Unless costs are lowered, they will continue to buy primarily from large-scale retail outlets. Many argue that we Americans spend less on food than consumers in most other developed countries, and that's somehow not what should be. We also seem to love to spend on our homes, cars, vacations, entertainment, and other items. Getting most people to shift expenses from other things toward food is an uphill fight.
Here's my bottom line: I strongly believe that locally-produced foods are demanded by most consumers. We have a long way to go before we'll be able to have a variety of local foods available to everyone who wants them at prices they can afford. To get there will take an approach that balances market fundamentals (like scale economies, transportation costs, consumer sovereignty) to make it happen.
Recently, I attended the National Value-Added Agriculture Conference. The keynote speaker was Gary Zimmer, a farmer, consultant, speaker, marketer... Gary owns and operates Midwest Bio-Ag, with offices in the upper Midwest. He is an organic farmer who markets a great deal of products in his local region. However, he presented a pragmatic, balanced view on the topic of local foods. What follows is a bit of Gary's thoughts with some of my own mixed in. I'll not presume that Gary would support everything below, so I'll take full responsibility for it. One word of caution: do not infer anything other than what I have written.
It's difficult to argue that there are not very real economic motivations behind how most food is grown and distributed in this country. The US climate is diverse and some things just naturally grow better in some areas than they do in others. We also have distinct growing seasons in most regions. This has led to large-scale production in areas where specific foods can be produced at low cost. That production can also be transported relatively quickly and efficiently to just about anywhere else in the country because of our distribution system. This has led to low-cost food at the retail level, an important objective in this country.
Because the low cost objective has been a key driver of how our food system works today, then it's almost by definition that, in most cases, locally produced foods are not going to be cheaper than if they were grown elsewhere. Scale economies, which lead to lower unit costs, are real. So, from a production cost standpoint, bigger is better. Local foods, in many cases, have been purchased primarily by those with relatively high incomes. They are somewhat of a luxury good, embodying not only freshness but support for local economies, etc. This begs the question, if locally produced foods are healthier and fresher, how can they be produced in a way that makes them accessible by everyone, even those with relatively low incomes?
We can't really expect the government to make this happen, can we? Is it the government's role to provide the BEST food or food that is GOOD ENOUGH? If the role is not for government to fill, then will the market make it happen? The market rewards production and marketing efficiency. The market got us to where we are. It's tough to fight the market! Consumers vote with their dollars. While many would love to buy food locally, many just can't afford it. Unless costs are lowered, they will continue to buy primarily from large-scale retail outlets. Many argue that we Americans spend less on food than consumers in most other developed countries, and that's somehow not what should be. We also seem to love to spend on our homes, cars, vacations, entertainment, and other items. Getting most people to shift expenses from other things toward food is an uphill fight.
Here's my bottom line: I strongly believe that locally-produced foods are demanded by most consumers. We have a long way to go before we'll be able to have a variety of local foods available to everyone who wants them at prices they can afford. To get there will take an approach that balances market fundamentals (like scale economies, transportation costs, consumer sovereignty) to make it happen.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
E.coli outbreak in cookie dough-- How are you keeping your customers safe?
On Friday, June 12, Nestle recalled all of its refrigerated cookie dough after receiving a product recall recommendation from the FDA. It has yet to be proven what product has been contaminated, but 70 people in 30 states with E.coli strain O157 have eaten raw Nestle cookie dough. E.coli O157 is a very dangerous strain of E.coli that is usually found in contaminated meat. Most adults get better in about a week, but serious kidney damage and death can also occur. Of the 70 known to be infected, 25 had to be hospitalized and 7 had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure.
Dr. David Acheson, associate professor for foods at the FDA has said, "You can't assume it's the usual ground beef or fresh produce." In the past 2 years, there have been major recalls involving peanut butter, pistachios, and frozen pot pies. With a growing list of contaminated product types, identifying a specific contaminant has gotten increasingly more difficult. The FDA is still investigating the cause of the E.coli O157 contamination. They are unsure if a certain ingredient was contaminated or if it was the facility. The facility has been closed temporarily and will lay off more than 200 workers.
NY Times article
CNN article
As a food producer, what are you doing to keep your customers safe? Do you inspect your ingredients (both produced externally and those produced by you) for potential pathogens? Do you have frequent food safety audits (both internally and by an outside lab)? Have your customers raised more concerns recently about food safety?
As a consumer, have you become more concerned about food safety? What can a food producer do to make you feel more reassured about the safety of your food?
Dr. David Acheson, associate professor for foods at the FDA has said, "You can't assume it's the usual ground beef or fresh produce." In the past 2 years, there have been major recalls involving peanut butter, pistachios, and frozen pot pies. With a growing list of contaminated product types, identifying a specific contaminant has gotten increasingly more difficult. The FDA is still investigating the cause of the E.coli O157 contamination. They are unsure if a certain ingredient was contaminated or if it was the facility. The facility has been closed temporarily and will lay off more than 200 workers.
NY Times article
CNN article
As a food producer, what are you doing to keep your customers safe? Do you inspect your ingredients (both produced externally and those produced by you) for potential pathogens? Do you have frequent food safety audits (both internally and by an outside lab)? Have your customers raised more concerns recently about food safety?
As a consumer, have you become more concerned about food safety? What can a food producer do to make you feel more reassured about the safety of your food?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Bing!
Just this past week, Microsoft has unveiled a new search engine called Bing (www.bing.com) which they are calling a decision engine. According to Microsoft, "Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today's search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition, or finding a local business."
As a frequent search engine user, you know (as do I) how most searches are getting to the point of information overload. A recent study by comScore ( a market research company that "provides marketing data and services to many of the internet's largest businesses") revealed that 30% of searches are deserted without a suitable result. Also, comScore discovered that over 65% of searches require a refinement (or requery) on the results page (please see the first link below to watch a video about Bing).
What does this new search engine have to do with you, the ag entrepreneur? Microsoft's research showed that users wanted more help in making decisions with shopping, travel, local businesses, and health. As an ag entrepreneur, you can take this opportunity to add your product/business/service to the Bing Local Listing Center (please check the second link below which will describe how to create a listing for your business). When a Bing user searches for your business, the search results with display driving directions, a 3D aerial view of your business, customer reviews, and more information if it applicable like hours of operation, web pages, email address, payment methods, type of cuisine, languages spoken, parking options, etc.
Bing video
Creating your own Bing listing
Building a web presence is an important part of marketing. Customers are demanding more information about the products and services they use. As an ag entrepreneur, what types of internet marketing are you using? Do you believe Bing (or any other search engine) will bring more customers to you? What are customers saying about your web presence (is it easy or hard to find info on your business)?
As a frequent search engine user, you know (as do I) how most searches are getting to the point of information overload. A recent study by comScore ( a market research company that "provides marketing data and services to many of the internet's largest businesses") revealed that 30% of searches are deserted without a suitable result. Also, comScore discovered that over 65% of searches require a refinement (or requery) on the results page (please see the first link below to watch a video about Bing).
What does this new search engine have to do with you, the ag entrepreneur? Microsoft's research showed that users wanted more help in making decisions with shopping, travel, local businesses, and health. As an ag entrepreneur, you can take this opportunity to add your product/business/service to the Bing Local Listing Center (please check the second link below which will describe how to create a listing for your business). When a Bing user searches for your business, the search results with display driving directions, a 3D aerial view of your business, customer reviews, and more information if it applicable like hours of operation, web pages, email address, payment methods, type of cuisine, languages spoken, parking options, etc.
Bing video
Creating your own Bing listing
Building a web presence is an important part of marketing. Customers are demanding more information about the products and services they use. As an ag entrepreneur, what types of internet marketing are you using? Do you believe Bing (or any other search engine) will bring more customers to you? What are customers saying about your web presence (is it easy or hard to find info on your business)?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Killing social fears to become a better networker
Many people feel uncomfortable in meeting strangers. But if you don't meet strangers, how will you build your network? As an entrepreneur, you need to overcome your social fears so that you can talk about your product/service and build relationships with potential buyers, distributors, customers, employees, etc.
In an article for Forbes magazine, Bob Goodyear, technical product manager for Symantec, confesses to being a wallflower and having trouble mingling. On a recent business trip, Goodyear vowed to overcome his fear. Before the event, Goodyear said that he "researched all the companies that would be represented...so that when I saw the company's names on the guest's name tags, I had a piece of information about their firm to use as a conversation starter." Another technique Goodyear uses is to put a time limit on how long he feels he has to mingle. "I tell myself, Bob, there's nothing you can't do for 30 minutes."
Dr. Mark Goulston, a psychologist, has used Goodyear's strategies and has built on them. Goulston sets a goal for himself at social events. For example, he promises "to meet three new people and have them be glad to have met me." Another technique Goulston uses is something he calls "FTD delivery." Get to know people by asking how they feel, what they think, or what they have done or would do given a certain topic. By starting the conversation directed at the other person, you take the focus off of yourself (and lower your stress level).
Ultimately, saying "Hi" is all about believing that you have something worth sharing with the other person, says John Baldoni, a corporate communications consultant in Ann Arbor, Mich. "You can't be afraid of sounding incompetent," he says. "You have to believe that you deserve to have the interaction, that your company depends on you and that you have something to offer the other person in the exchange."
networking article
As an entrepreneur, do you fear social situations? Do you want to become a better networker so that you can attract new customers, distributors, employees, etc? What tips do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to become better networkers?
In an article for Forbes magazine, Bob Goodyear, technical product manager for Symantec, confesses to being a wallflower and having trouble mingling. On a recent business trip, Goodyear vowed to overcome his fear. Before the event, Goodyear said that he "researched all the companies that would be represented...so that when I saw the company's names on the guest's name tags, I had a piece of information about their firm to use as a conversation starter." Another technique Goodyear uses is to put a time limit on how long he feels he has to mingle. "I tell myself, Bob, there's nothing you can't do for 30 minutes."
Dr. Mark Goulston, a psychologist, has used Goodyear's strategies and has built on them. Goulston sets a goal for himself at social events. For example, he promises "to meet three new people and have them be glad to have met me." Another technique Goulston uses is something he calls "FTD delivery." Get to know people by asking how they feel, what they think, or what they have done or would do given a certain topic. By starting the conversation directed at the other person, you take the focus off of yourself (and lower your stress level).
Ultimately, saying "Hi" is all about believing that you have something worth sharing with the other person, says John Baldoni, a corporate communications consultant in Ann Arbor, Mich. "You can't be afraid of sounding incompetent," he says. "You have to believe that you deserve to have the interaction, that your company depends on you and that you have something to offer the other person in the exchange."
networking article
As an entrepreneur, do you fear social situations? Do you want to become a better networker so that you can attract new customers, distributors, employees, etc? What tips do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to become better networkers?
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