NOVAA Resource Guide Final September 2011

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RESOURCE GUIDE

New Opportunities inValue Added Agriculture

AUGUST 2011


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The goal of this project is to make it easier for agricultural and food production

businesses to innovate, add value to their products and services, and to connect

with experts and resources who can assist them in doing so. The ultimate desired

outcome is that these businesses are more competitive, profitable, and sustainable.

Funding for the NOVAA project has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultu

Adaptation Program (CAAP). In Nova Scotia, this program is delivered by Agri-Futures Nova Scotia. The Canadian Agricult

competitive. CAAP provides an industry-led innovative and cooperative approach to funding projects at the national, mu

regional and regional levels. Find out more about the CAAP program online at www.agr.gc.ca/caap.


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Table of Contents

A Message from the Project Lead (ACSBE)

Introduction to New Opportunities in Value Added Agriculture

What is Value-Added Agriculture?

Some Value Added Ideas for Small Farm Businesses

11 Useful Resources on Value Adding

The Changing Agriculture Landscape

Trends That Are Impacting Agriculture

TOP 10 Global Consumer Food Trends

Ten Biggest Mistakes Made by New Value Adders

Organizations that can help you value add

Farm entrepreneurs who shared their insights, wisdom, & knowledge with the project

Value Added Glossary

Am I a Value Adder?

Developing a Mentoring or Advisory Team

Over to You

Photo Gallery

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A Message from the Project Lead (ACSBE)

August 31, 2011

To all entrepreneurs who continue to advance Nova Scotias agriculture and agri-food sectors;

say that shrinking commodity prices, fewer wholesale opportunities, and ever-tighter margins are collectively

squeezing farmers out of the industry. Some might even argue theres no future in farming here in Nova Scotia.

These arguments, of course, are not without merit. The pressure these changes have placed on our farmers is

very real, and shouldnt be minimized. However, this project New Opportunities in Value Added Agriculture

enjoyed in the past, we choose to believe the future of agriculture remains very bright here in our province. If

we didnt believe that, we would never have led this project.

The vision behind this program was simple: that working together we will make it easier for our farm-based

name of creating a more entrepreneurial culture,where entrepreneurs can grow their businesses in alignment

with their passions, personal vision, values, and goals.

Over the past ten months, the NOVAA project has put the spotlight squarely on some of our most innovative

farm and food-based businesses. Particularly, we focused on those who are succeeding through value adding.

Entrepreneurs who participated in this program (which included a conference, a skills development program,

and a series of webinars) discovered a great blend of inspirational success stories along with the tips, tools,

contacts, and expert advice they need to grow and thrive.

What you are about to read is a short resource guide that captures some (though, in reality, only a fraction) of

the ideas and success stories that resulted from this project. We hope you enjoy it, and that you can use these

resources to get more of whatever it is you want from your business.

Sincerely,

Joel Stoddart

Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (www.acsbe.com)

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Introduction to New Opportunities in ValueAdded Agriculture

New Opportunities in Value Added Agriculture was an 8-month business development project sponsored by Agri-

Futures Nova Scotia, the Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce, and Morton Horticultural Associates. It was managed bythe Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship.

The goal of this project is to enable agricultural and food

production businesses to explore, develop and imple-

ment a growth strategy for Value Added Agriculture

through:

Assisting agricultural producers in identifying

new value-added product opportunities, and

new markets to which their products could be

sold.

Providing producers with business and feasibility

planning skills necessary to move forward with

Linking the producers with private sector

businesses and public sector agencies who could

support the producer as they navigate through

an otherwise complex process.

Encouraging the producers to adopt new

facilitate new markets.

The project consisted of:

1. A one-day value-added summit (November 2010)

which brought the agricultural sector together to

exchange ideas, learn from successful entrepreneurs

within the sector, identify new approaches, network, an

renew their spirit for the industry.

2.

2011) aimed at assisting agricultural producers in deve

oping new skills in value-adding. These focused on:

current trends in value-adding and generating new ide

ing new markets, building strategic alliances in the

raising capital & risk taking, and understanding the role

of technology in the value-adding process.

3.

These 45 minute webinars provided additional informa

tion on value-added trends around Canada, as well as

tips and tactics to advance value added strategies.

4. The resource that you are reading right now.

This project has resulted in extremely positive feedback from agriculture and agri-food sector participants from across

Nova Scotia. To review the full project evaluation, please visit www.acsbe.com/valueadded.

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What is Value-Added Agriculture?(excerpt from Value Plus: A Quest for New Farm Value, Gary Morton, 2010)

Many people speak about value adding as though its an obvious or intuitive concept. After all, most people

understand what value is, and most people also understand what adding is. But the reality is that value adding can

Value-Added Agriculture:Value added agriculture describes any process used by farmers or agri-food producers

way to make outputs more valuable to target markets. Examples include direct marketing: farmer ownership of

processing facilities: and producing farm products with a higher intrinsic value (such as identity-preserved grains,

organic produce, free-range chickens: etc.), for which buyers are willing to pay a higher price than for more tradi-tional farm commodities. The concept of value-adding continues to gain currency in the small farm policy debate,

in response to the concern that the farms share of the consumer food dollar continues to decrease.

Some Value Added Ideas for Small FarmBusinesses

Its time to kick-start your value-adding creativity! The following are some of the methods businesses commonly

use to add value to products. Remember that your product doesnt have to appeal to everyone. Not everyone will

Change the Distribution System:

This most often involves by-passing some of the

traditional middlemen, brokers, distributors and

retailers and taking products & services directly to

the consumer. Farm markets, farm stands, farmers.

markets, retail outlets, garden centres, mail order,

and e-commerce are some common direct market-

ing options used by farm/ranch businesses.

Change the Product:

Add to or change the form of an existing

product. While this method usually involves

new investment into further processing

and ultimately give producers more control

over their end products. It also could be used

as a method of value adding lower quality

products that previously did not make the

grade for the premium market.

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Change the Packaging or Labelling:

Try changing the products packaging or labelling

to appeal to a new market segment. Unique

colourful labels are your silent sales force, and can

implant your brand in the consumer.s mind. Using

standard industry packaging creates a commodity

product vision with the customer and tends to

potential.

Branding Products:

Product branding is a growing value adding tool

being used in all the areas of agriculture as produc-

ers recognize that the consumers are respond to

Niche or Specialty Markets:

Produce for and focus on a specialty niche market

specialty value added ethnic markets, local food,

live food, or a sales theme that targets the needs of

a particular segment of consumers that others are

not serving well.

Diversify into a new value added enterprise to expand

and new brands that create new consumer excitement

and additional sales.

Grading:

service you can create extra value and target

standard good grade product or service, this is our

better grade, and this one is our best and premium

grade.

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Value Add a Service:

What kind of service could be added to a product

free delivery, product guarantees or warrantees,

personalized service, and quality information are

service options that can add new value to oldproduct lines.

Marketing Partnerships and Alliances:

Partnerships and alliances are becoming more

important and necessary to gain access into

markets as the retail industry consolidates and

moves to central distribution. A partnership of

growers may be able to capture and service a

much bigger portion of a market than any

individual producer is capable of achieving on

their own. Alliances developed with growers inother provinces or countries may allow you to

service and supply your markets year round.

Producers may join forces to develop new products

or to achieve the scales of economies necessary to

enter into new markets.

Internet:

The Internet allows you to value add your business

right into your customers homes. The Internet has

a two-way function where you can sell products to

customers via mail-order or e-commerce, or you

can use it to draw them to your business and direct

sell right from your doorstep. You can value add

services, such as on line advice, promotional

coupons, electronic newsletters, direct to your

customers. The Internet is becoming a tool of

consumer choice.

Organic:

The opportunity to produce organic products is a

growth sector and organics is appealing to a

growing segment of the consuming population.

Organic production is a value added option that

may open up new markets or entry into preferred

markets. Many of the organic markets are under-

supplied and supermarket chains are having

necessary volumes.

Agri-Tourism:

Agri-tourism is a value added business strategy

used by owners to generate income from the

activities involved around visiting a commercial

farm business or agricultural related facility for the

purposes of enjoyment, education, entertainmentrecreation, holidays, hospitality services, or direct

farm sales.

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11 Useful Resources on Value Adding

Value Plus: A Quest for New Organic Farm Value (Gary Morton, 2010):

www.acornorganic.org/pdf/valueplus.pdf

Nova Scotia Food Processors Directory (Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, 2011):www.gov.ns.ca/agri/marketing/proddev/foodproc.shtml

The Canadian Consumer: Behaviour, Attitudes, and Perceptions Towards Food Products

(Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2010):

www.windmillwebworks.sytes.net/canadianswine/newsitems/Canada%20Consumer%20Report_EN.pdf

Diversifying Your Agriculture Sales Mix (Brooks, Emily, 2010):

www.ediblesadvocatealliance.org/local-food-ture---agriculbusiness-blog/bid/59462/Diversifying-Your-Agricultural

-Sales-Mix?utm_campaign=False-Security-of-Farm-Markets%2C-blog-%232

Maximizing All Direct Retail Sales Opportunities for Farmers (Brooks, Emily, 2010): www.ediblesadvocatealliance.org

local-food---agriculture-usiness-blog/bid/59458/Maximizing-all-Direct-Retail-Sales-Opportunities-for-Farmers

Why Value Added Agriculture is Important (Professor Mike Boland, 2009):

www.agmrc.org/business_development/getting_prepared/valueadded_agriculture/articles/why_value_added_

agriculture_is_important_.cfm

Submission Guidelines for the Acceptability of Novel Packaging Materials

(Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2011):

www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/protra/packnove.shtml

CASE STUDY: Branding in Agriculture: Milk Gets a Makeover (Dr. Michael McDermott and Aidan Connolly):

www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=420

Value Added Agriculture Is It Right for Me? (Evans, Edward A, 2009):

Developing a Business Plan for Value-Added Agricultural Products

(Rodney B. Holcomb, Glenn Muske, and Phil Kenkel, 2010):

www.pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-981/F-909web.pdf

Literature Review of Canadian Food Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions (Dr. Louise A. Heslop, 2007):

www4.agr.gc.ca/resources/prod/doc/agr/pdf/domestic_marketing_literature_review-complete_e.pdf

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The Changing Agriculture Landscape

Old Paradigm New Paradigm

Pesticides are an acceptable aspect

of food production

Pesticides are not environmentally friendly

Produce a product and someone will

buy it (Production driven focus)

The market demand pulls products through

the market place not the supply

(Market driven focus)

We trust others for the security of our

food supply

We want guaranteed food chain safety

Corporate faceless giants produce

our food

Who produces our food? Purring the face

of the farmer back on food

Mono-crop production and a wholesale

market focus

Direct marketing to the end consumer

Reliance on others to create markets Sustainability and farm security comes fromdeveloping our own markets

Baby boomers Silver foxes

Snail mail, Telephone, Fax Computers, Internet, Personal

communication devices

The agriculture market landscape is constantly evolving. It is important to monitor the paradigm shifts and

general trends when looking for new value added opportunity.

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Trends That Are Impacting Agriculture(Gary Morton: http://www.acornorganic.org/pdf/valueplus.pdf)

Food Safety and Food Security:

How could your business turn this into a market advantage? Technology Changes (Internet, GPS, Cell, Computers,Weather Forecasting): how could your business use new technology to create new customer value?

Consumer Demographics:

What might the changing demographic segments of the population want that you could produce for them?

Global Warming (Production Aids):

Increase in Consumer Leisure Time:

How could you turn the isolation of rural farming/ranching into a leisure opportunity for others?

How could you make your farm/ranch a consumer destination? How could your business appeal to the growing

desire for farm nostalgia?

Time to Prepare a Meal, Demand for Healthy Convenience Foods:

How could you change your product to be more convenient?

Live Food Movement/ Slow Food Movement:

Does this trend have opportunity for you?

Buy Local / Put Face of Farmer on Food:

How could you better connect with local customers

Direct Sales: Farmers Markets, Roadside Markets:

What would make direct sales a good strategic move for your business?

Distribution Channels:

Food Service VS. Retail: are there other market channels that you should be targeting?

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Value Added Processing:

How could you add new value to your products through further processing?

Specialty & Niche Markets:

What do you really do well that a select target market group would value?

Organic Foods:

Renewed Interest in Horses:

USA Homeland Security Program (Access to food from or through the USA.):

How can this be turned around into an opportunity or market advantage for your business?

Product Branding/ Private Labelling:

Increased Regulations:

What niche markets in other parts of the world could you supply? How can you turn regulations into a market

advantage?

Export Markets:

disposable income and the demand for specialized consumer goods?

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TOP 10 Global Consumer Food Trends

1.

2. Drive-and-go: more of us are ordering take-out from full-service restaurants

3. Inherently healthy: consumers are increasing choosing natural, healthy foods

4. Fancy: people are choosing premium, gourmet foods

5. Farm-friendly: organic and natural are hot, and so is fair trade

6.

7. Grazing: healthier snacks

8. Low, No, and Less: low fat, low carbs, no trans fats, low calorie products

9. Doctoring through Diet: manage or treat a condition through diet. Expect more functional foods to appear

10. Global gangbusters: health and convenience issues are global issues; not just North American issues

Ten Biggest Mistakes Made byNew Value Adders(Gary Morton: http://www.acornorganic.org/pdf/valueplus.pdf)

Question Guilty Not GuiltyNo.

Shooting from the hip with no plan (DIdint create a business plan)1.

10.

2. Didnt throuoghly research and validate the market opportunity

3. Not building a value added support system

4. Not realistic evaluating their value adding skills

5. Re-inventing the wheel (No mentors)

6. Under valuing or under pricing their products & services

7.

8. Not promoting the product or service

9. Falling in love with their idea and losing objectivity

Not using programs and resources available for development assistance

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Organizations that can help you value add(or know someone who can)

Contact Business/Organization Contact information

Joel Stoddart Acadia Centre for Social and Business

Entrepreneurship

[email protected] or 585.1603

(www.acsbe.com)

Gary Morton Morton Horticultural Associates [email protected] or 679.1467

Judy Rafuse Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce [email protected] or 678.4634

(www.ekcc.ca)

Kyla Pierik Agri-Futures Nova Scotia [email protected] or 895.4454

(www.agri-futures.ns.ca)

Donna Sears Acadia University School of Business [email protected] or 585.1404

(http://business.acadiau.ca)

Craig Place FuturVue Communications [email protected]

Peter Chapman GPS Business Solutions [email protected]

(http://gpsbusiness.ca)

Brian MacCulloch NS Dept. of Agriculture Resource

Coordinator


(http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/)

Wanda Hamilton NS Federation of Agriculture [email protected] or 893.2293

(http://www.nsfa-fane.ca)

Peggy Crawford Acadia University Research and

Innovation Coordinator


(http://ice.acadiau.ca)

Leigh Huestis

and Community Engagement


(http://ice.acadiau.ca)

Steve Owen National Research Council Industrial

Research Assistance Program


(http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/index.html)

If you are considering value-adding as a business growth strategy, there are many highly capable people and

organizations that can help. Here below are some of the people who contributed to this project, and who would

be very happy to hear from you.

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Contact Business/Organization Contact information

Derrick Brooks NS Dept. of Agriculture Product

Quality Development


(www.gov.ns.ca/agri/marketing/proddev/)

Loretta Robichaud NS Dept. of Agriculture Business

Programs and Risk Management


(http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/prm/)

Chris Bavis MacDonald Chisholm Trask Insurance [email protected] or 678.6277

(http://www.mcti.ca)

Cris Shirritt Muttart Tufts DeWolfe and Coyle [email protected] or 678.2157

(http://www.mtdc.ns.ca)

Paul Richards Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency [email protected]

or 679.5356(http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca)

Joe McGrath Royal Bank of Canada [email protected] (www.rbc.com)

Samantha Lacey Nova Scotia Farm Loan Board [email protected] or 679.6008

(http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/farmlb/)

Colby Clarke Kings Regional Development Agency [email protected] or 678.2298

(www.kingsrda.ca)

Connie Foote Acadia University Centre for the

Sensory Research of Food


(http://nutrition.acadiau.ca/

sensory-research-of-food.html)

Wolfville Farmers Market [email protected]

(http://www.wolfvillefarmersmarket.ca)

Horticulture Nova Scotia [email protected] or 678.9335(http://www.hortns.com/index.html)

Stephanie Rogers Nova Scotia Agricultural College [email protected] or 893.7247

(http://nsac.ca/)

Dela Erith Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association [email protected] or 678.1093

(http://www.nsapples.com)

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ContactBusiness/Organization Contact information

Rowena Hopkins Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia

Cooperative

[email protected]

or 425.9776

(http://farmersmarketsnovascotia.ca)

Anne Boswall Farm Credit Canada [email protected]

(http://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/index.asp)

Heather Watson Farm Business Management Council [email protected]

or 613.237.9060 ext. 31

(http://www.farmcentre.com/Home.aspx)

Janice Ruddock Winery Association of Nova Scotia [email protected]

or 492.9291 ext. 111

(http://www.winesofnovascotia.ca)

Richard Donald AgraPoint [email protected] or 893.6036

(http://www.agrapoint.ca)

Savior Joseph Colour Marketing [email protected] or 722.3235

(http://www.colour.ca)

Clara LeBlanc Agriculture (Agri-tourism) [email protected] or 506.856.2648

(http://www.gnb.ca/0027/Agr/index-e.asp)

Emily Haynes Taste of Nova Scotia [email protected]

or 492.9291

(http://www.tasteofnovascotia.com/)

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Farm entrepreneurs who shared theirinsights, wisdom, & knowledge with the project

Presenter/speaker

/panelist Business Website URL

Brian Allaway Acadian Maple Products www.acadianmaple.com

Jeanita Rand Fox Hill Cheese www.foxhillcheesehouse.com

Evelyn Ernst Terra Beata Farms www.cranberryfarm.ca

John Henry WOW! Food Systems and NSAC www.linkedin.com/pub/john-henry/28/695/8a

Blomidon Farms Limited www.peachpitfarmmarket.com

Patricia Bishop Taproot Farms www.taprootfarms.ca

Joanne Schmidt Galloping Cows Fine Foods www.gallopingcows.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?display=home

Casey Van Dyk& Randy MacDonald

Van Dyks Health Juice Products www.vandykblueberries.ca

Stonehame Chalets www.stonehamechalets.com

Utopia Farms www.magnetichillwinery.com

In addition to the many support organizations seen above, there are many entrepreneurs who are living the value-

added process each and every day. Their stories may provide you just the inspiration youve been looking for.

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Acadian Maple Products

Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia

www.acadianmaple.com

Brian [email protected]

Acadian Maple Products is a wild crafted gourmet food producer and distributor. Its specialty is pure Nova Scotia

of the world quality wild crafted gourmet foods for over 20 years. Started as a hobby, Acadian Maple has grown to

Bay area of Halifax, NS. Its packaging and processing facility is located in the Wentworth Valley, Nova Scotia.

Fox Hill Cheese House

Port Williams, Nova Scotia

www.foxhillcheesehouse.com

Richard and Jeanita [email protected] or 542.3599

Run by Richard and Jeanita Rand as well as their daughter Melissa and son Patrick, Fox Hill Cheese House creates

unique value added dairy products from the milk produced on the family dairy farm. These products include 20

types of specialty cheeses, yogurt, gelato ice cream, and pasteurized non-homogenized milk packaged in glass

bottles. Fox Hill Cheese has year-round retail outlets at the farm in Port Williams and at the Halifax and Wolfville

Farmers Markets. The farm takes pride in being accredited with Quality Milk Program, a federal criteria for dairy

farmers in Canada. Environmentally, the family works continually to improve the land by using only their own

nutrients. Their animals are housed in a ventilated, loose housing barn during the colder months of the year and

pasture-fed during the spring and late fall seasons.

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Terra Beata Cranberry Farm

Heckman's Island, Nova Scotia

www.cranberryfarm.ca

Evelyn Ernst


Evelyn Ernst and her husband David operate the Terra Beata Farm, a cranberry growing and processing business

near Lunenburg. Beginning with a tree covered bog, over the last 12 years the farm has gradually expanded to 15

acres of cranberries. The processing side of the business cleans and freezes the crop from the farm as well as from

other growers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Some of these berries are processed into preserves, juices, and

dried cranberries; these are then sold through outlets across Atlantic Canada and beyond. In addition, some

berries are packed for export by the container to various industrial customers in Europe. Originally a high school

successfully. It has received the Lunenburg County Exporter of the Year and the Nova Scotia New Exporter of the

Canada in 2010

WOW! Food Systems Incorporated

Truro, Nova Scotia

www.linkedin.com/pub/john-henry/28/695/8a

John Henry


WOW! Food Systems Incorporated is a turnaround company that targets operationally stressed food service

enterprises. A skilled consultant, facilitator, and the owner of the company, John Henry has extensive domestic

and international experience in activities related to agriculture, business development, community economic

development, small business capitalization, marketing, and partnership development. John is also a lecturer atthe Nova Scotia Agricultural College where he delivers courses in International Business, Financial

Management, Consumer Behaviour, and Managing Food Value Chains. His work as an agricultural consultant

has taken him around the globe, including Europe, Latin America and Africa.

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Peach Pit Farm Market

Dempseys Corner, Nova Scotia

www.peachpitfarmmarket.com

Jeff and Jodi Hennigar


Blomindon Farms is the largest peach producer in Nova Scotia and use their farm-based Peach Pit Farm Market/

Bakery Outlet to create an interesting agri-tourism destination, adding value to their products and to the end

the Annapolis Valley), pure homemade jams, jellies, and pickles. They also believe in supporting the local farming

community while supplying their customers with the best possible products. Besides a variety of fruits and

vegetables, they also carry locally produced honey, vinegars, ciders, and dried beans

TapRoot Farms

Port Williams, Nova Scotiawww.taprootfarms.ca

Patricia Bishop


Patricia Bishop is an eighth-generation Annapolis Valley farmer and the cofounder of Taproot Farms, a Commu-

nity Shared Agriculture (CSA) Farm that delivers nutritious and ethically-produced foods. In recent years,

Patricias work to promote locally-grown foods and preserve agricultural lands has built awareness concerning

local farms. Patricia holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from the Nova Scotia Agricultural

College, and a Bachelor of Education from Acadia University. Raised in Greenwich, NS, Patricia is also active in

Noggins Corner Farm.

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Galloping Cows Fine Foods

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

www.gallopingcows.come

Joanne and Ron Schmidt [email protected] or 787.3484

At Galloping Cows Fine Foods, a warm country kitchen nestled in the Cape Breton Highlands, Joanne and Ron

Schmidt prepare all their sauces and jellies the old-fashioned way. They use only the freshest produce and the

turned their dreams into reality in 1994 when they founded the operations. They began small, selling their

delightful sauces and preserves around their home base in Nova Scotia. Years of hard work and dedication have

Van Dyks Health Juice Products Ltd

Caledonia, Nova Scotiawww.vandykblueberries.ca

Casey Van Dyk and Randy MacDonald

[email protected] or 682-2474

Beginning as a dream in his late sixties, Casey Van Dyk set out to develop a high value 100% pure wild blueberry

juice targeting the high-end consumer in the nutraceutical marketplace. Since then, his family has been harvest-

ing Wild Blueberries in Nova Scotia for almost 40 years. Today his product is distributed and sold across Canada,

into the USA, China, Taiwan, and Korea. Van Dyk was the 2005 winner of the Best New Juice Innovation award atthe World Juice Congress, in Madrid, Spain. Casey and his wife Henrica have 9 children, 19 grandchildren, and 1

great grandchild.

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Stonehame Lodge and Chalets

Scotsburn, Nova Scotia

www.stonehamechalets.com

Jeff Gunn [email protected] or 485-3468

successful year round agri-tourism business based on farm visitation, accommodations, local food, and fabulous

hospitality and service. Located on the top of Fitzpatrick Mountain in Scotsburn, visitors have a view of three

counties, PEI, and the Northumberland Strait. The company provides a year-round, four star vacation retreat with

ten log chalets or cottages and 17 private guest rooms.

Utopia Farms/Magnetic Hill Winery

Moncton, New Brunswick

www.magnetichillwinery.com

Jeff and Janet Everett

[email protected] or 384-946

Moncton, NB and decided that they needed to value-add their fruit products by turning them into fruit wines.

They bought a historic farm property overlooking Moncton near the Magnetic Hill and over a period of 5 years,

with a lot of hard work and sweat equity, developed the successful Magnetic Hill Winery and B&B.

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Value Added Glossary

Branding:

The process involved in creating a unique name and

image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly

through advertising campaigns with a consistent

retains loyal customers

ng.html).

Business Vision:

An aspirational description of what an organization

would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or

long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear

guide for choosing current and future courses of action

-

statement.html).

Competitive advantage:

A superiority gained by an organization when it can

provide the same value as its competitors but at a

lower price, or can charge higher prices by providing

advantage results from matching core competencies to

the opportunities

titive-advantage.html).

Cost structure:

A method to determine how much it will cost a

company to manufacture a product and how muc

product

st-structure.html).

Entrepreneurial mindset:

An entrepreneurial mindset can be described as a

group of personal dispositions, also known as

entrepreneurial spirit, which lead to the innovativ

practice of identifying and/or creating opportuni-

ties, then acting to manifest those opportunities i

a productive way

(http://blog.prosperyourmind.com/2011/07/entre

eneurial-mindset/).

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Growth Matrix :

Strategic marketing planning tool that

general strategic direction and pres-

ents four alternative growth strategiesas a table(matrix). These strategies are

seeking growth: (1) Market penetra-

tion: by pushing existing products in

their currentmarket segments. (2)

Market development: by developing

new markets for the existing products.

(3) Product development: by develop-

ing new products for the existing

-

oping new products for new markets

(http://www.businessdictionary.com/d

Intellectual Property (IP):

Knowledge, creative ideas, or expres-

sions of human mind that have commer-

cial value and are protectable under

copyright, patent, service mark, trade-

mark, or trade secret laws from imitation,

infringement, and dilution. Intellectual

property includes brand names, discov-

eries, formulas, inventions, knowledge,

registered designs, software, and works

of artistic, literary, or musical nature. It is

one of the most readily tradable proper-

ties in the digital marketplace

nition/intellectual-property.html).

Market niche:

attention by a marketer. Market niches do not exist by them-

selves, but are created by identifying needs or wants that are not

satisfy them. See also market segmentation

-

niche.html).

Market intelligence:

Market intelligence is an intelligence discipline that exploits

open-source information gathered from global markets. It relies

solely on publicly available information such as market prices and

Intelligence refers to the acquisition and aggregation of data from

the global markets for purposes of sense making. Market Intelli-

gence is not to be confused with Marketing Intelligence, which is

concerned with assessing the marketplace for consumer products

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_Intelligence_(MARKINT)).

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Marketing strategy:

A strategy that integrates an organization's marketing

goals into a cohesive whole. Ideally drawn from market

research, it focuses on the ideal product mix to achieve

out in a marketing plan

ing-strategy.html).

New Product Development Process:

Process of developing a new product or service for

the market. This type of development is considered

the preliminary step in product or service develop-

ment and involves a number of steps that must be

completed before the product can be introduced to

the market. New product development may be done

to develop an item to compete with a particular

product/service or may be done to improvean

already established product. New product develop-

ment is essential to any business that must keep up

with market trends and changes

product-development.html).

Product driven versus market-driven:

Product-driven companies are those companies

whose management believes that technical superior-

ity of their products is the key to their success in the

marketplace. In such companies, the key decisionmakers are engineers, not marketing or sales types.

On the other hand, market-driven companies are

those companies whose decision makers come from

within marketing and sales ranks. Such companies

are driven more by an understanding of market

forces than by technical achievement

(http://www.polaris-

inc.com/index.php?action=resources.ArticleInfo&row

id=27)

Strategic Alliance:

Agreement for cooperation among two or more

alliance do not form a new entity to further their aims

but collaborate while remaining apart and distinct

c-alliance.html).

Succession planning:

-

sors fork ey positions in an organization, through a

systematic evaluation process and training. Unlike

replacement planning (which grades an individual

solely on the basis of his or her past performance)

succession planning is largely predictive in judging

an individual for a position he or she might never

have been in

ession-planning.html).

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SWOT Analysis:

Situation analysis in which internal strengths and

weaknesses of an organization, and external opportu-

nities and threats faced by it are closely examined to

chart a strategy. SWOT stands for strengths, weak-

nesses, opportunities, and threats-

analysis.html).

Value-chains:

A term denoting the increased vertical integration of

agri-food production. Commodity supply-chains are

evolving into value-chains to rigorously controlintegration and management of all phases of food

manufacturing from the farm to the grocery shelf. Of

central importance to a value-chain is the capacity to

assure quality and traceability throughout the chain by

-

users.

(http://lugar.senate.gov/issues/ag/glossary/v.html)

Value-Added Agriculture:

Value added agriculture describes any process used by

farmers or agri-food producers to capture a larger share

of the consumer food dollar for their business. Even

outputs more valuable to target markets. Examples

include direct marketing: farmer ownership of process-

ing facilities: and producing farm products with a

higher intrinsic value (such as identity-preserved

grains, organic produce, free-range chickens: etc.), for

which buyers are willing to pay a higher price than for

more traditional farm commodities. The concept of

value-adding continues to gain currency in the small

farm policy debate, in response to the concern that the

farms share of the consumer food dollar continues to

decrease.

Vertical integration:

The integrating of successive stages of the produc-

tion and marketing functions under the ownership

or control of a single management organization. For

example, much of the broiler industry is highly

vertically integrated in that processing companies

own or control the activities from production and

hatching of eggs, through the growth and feedingof the chickens, to slaughter, processing, and

wholesale marketing. Hog production during the

1990s and early 2000s also was rapidly moving

toward vertical integration (or at least vertical

coordination.)


Vertical coordination:

The process of ensuring that each successive stage

in the production, processing, and marketing of a

product is appropriately managed and interrelated

to the next, so that decisions about what to

produce, and how much, are communicated as

producer. Agricultural economists believe that

vertical coordination of markets is particularly

important in the food industry because of its

-

pate in one or more stages, and the relative

perishability of the products involved. Vertical

integration is a type of vertical coordination, but

the latter does not necessarily require that a single

organization own or control all of the stages. For

example, the use of contracts and marketing

agreements between buyers and sellers, and the

availability of timely, accurate price and other

market information are methods for achieving

vertical coordination.


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Am I a Value Adder?

Does this describe me and/or my value added ideas? Yes No

The idea is something they really, really, really want to do

I have patience and am willing to grow into the opportunity

I believe I can develop a unique brand identity and unique market advantage

I have assessed my personal skills and am prepared to hire people

My idea is market opportunity-driven rather than product-idea driven

I have someone to champion this opportunity

I am prepared to write a plan and strategy, and use it

I am able to look at old things in new ways

I continually look to the future for new opportunities

I am willing to get closer to the customer than the competition

I am prepared to write a plan and strategy, and use it

I know how to take action and persevere

I am prepared to take calculated, not reckless, risks

Do I as manager have the necessary value adding skills?

Do any of my family members have the necessary value adding skills?

Being a value-adder is not rocket science, but it does require a certain set of skills and aptitudes. Take this short

quiz to see how you measure up.

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Developing a Mentoring or Advisory Team

While experience is said to be the best teacher, advice from mentors is your second best help. It reduces the

One of the best and most comforting steps you can take when diversifying or value adding organic products or

services is to develop a trusted team of advisors and mentors. They are especially valuable when you are moving

into new and unknown territory. Individuals developing new opportunities have a habit of falling in love with their

own ideas and will often become less than objective when making business decisions. An advisory team can help

expertise and historical experiences, as well as get a bit of constructive criticism when necessary.

They can be a formal or informal board of directors and should be objective and frank enough to point out short

comings that you may have overlooked or pitfalls that you have not recognized. Build a group of advisors withvaried skills and backgrounds, consisting of other business people, government, consultants, other entrepreneurs,

neighbours, and family members. This group should help you develop a broad and holistic overview of production,

processing, regulations, marketing, potential assistance, the consumer, and the marketplace big picture. They can

your radar screen. Search out good competent advice, as you do get what you pay for.

There are lots of organizations to help you on your value added journey; most communities have very helpful

through it before and understands the risks and challenges, and can also help you see the rewards at

the end of the tunnel.

Every business requires skills in

production and succession. If you

are already in business you may

have these skills. If not you will need

to develop a strategy to learn them

member or outside advisor that

either has the necessary skills or can

develop into the role. You cant do it

all yourself.

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Over to You

In this short resource guide, weve attempted to provide you with useful tools, resources, and contacts that can

help you take your agri-business to the next level. But nothing happens until you take action, and at the risk of

sounding clichd the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

For some, that will mean picking up the phone and calling someone from the contact list provided in this book, or

just a few extra minutes to do some exploratory market research on a new idea youve been dreaming of. Whatever

In closing, whatever you do, please do it in alignment with your personal vision, your passion, and your core values.

One thing weve learned about entrepreneurs here at ACSBE is that the truly successful ones the ones who

experience true joy from their endeavors are the ones who took action because that action had the potential to

give them exactly what they wanted out of life.

See you along the way.

Joel Stoddart

Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (www.acsbe.com)

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Photo Gallery

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Documents

NOVAA Resource Guide Final September 2011