Publications

October 2013
Case

Lufa Farms

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Robert Mackalski, Annelena Loeb and Lisa Mazzanti

In 2013, Mohamed Hage, founder of the rooftop farming business called Lufa Farms, thought his company had reached a level of maturity where scaling the business model was the next logical step. With two greenhouses already in Canada, he was looking into other locations... View Details

Keywords: Rooftop Farms; Agriculture; Greenhouse; Technology; Expansion; Strategic Partnerships; Cultivation; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Canada

November 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Lipman: Vertical Integration in Fresh Tomatoes

By: José B. Alvarez and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Lipman, the largest open field fresh tomato grower and marketer in the United States, has been successfully pursuing an aggressive strategy of acquisitions over the last several years. End-market consolidation in the retail space has driven vertical integration in the... View Details

Keywords: Tomatoes; Fresh Produce; Vertical Integration; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Cuba; Central America

January 2013 (Revised April 2013)
Case

OSI in China

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

OSI, one of the world's largest suppliers of processed meats to McDonald's and other QSRs, was in the middle of a $400M expansion in China that included backward integration into poultry production. However, its current customers took only a portion of each bird... View Details

Keywords: China; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Competitive Positioning; Organizational Design; Channels Of Distribution; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

June 1996 (Revised April 1999)
Teaching Note

Calyx & Corolla TN

By: Walter J. Salmon and Judith Maas

Teaching Note for (9-592-035). View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

February 1991 (Revised December 1992)
Teaching Note

Smoke Wars: The Case for and Against the Cigarette Industry, Teaching Note

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

June 2023
Teaching Note

Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: The Megafarms of CP Group

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 316-150. The case introduces students to an innovative new agricultural venture on the outskirts of Beijing. It can be used as a platform to discuss broader issues of agricultural policy reform and regional disparities in social and... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Policy; Economic Growth; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Thailand

November 2006
Supplement

Sarah Talley and Frey Farms Produce: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

February 1988 (Revised July 1988)
Case

Debt-Equity Swaps in Latin American Agriculture: The Case of LAAD in Costa Rica

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Agribusiness; Finance; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Costa Rica

Find at Harvard

January 2015
Case

Cresud and Argentina

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

Argentina-based Cresud managed 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land in South America. For 20 years, the publicly traded company's strategy had been to acquire underutilized properties and turn them into productive farmland for cattle and crops. In 2014,... View Details

Keywords: Argentina; Farmland Ownership; Farming; Government Agricultural Policy; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Argentina; South America

December 2012
Case

Ocean Mist Farms

By: David E. Bell, Jose B. Alvarez, Mary Shelman and Michael Norris

In late 2012, Kori Tuggle, director of marketing and business development at Ocean Mist Farms, a California produce company, examines her social media-based marketing program and her attempts to create a brand for a bulk commodity. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; California

December 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Agriculture in Mexico

By: David E. Bell, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Cintra Scott

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Mexico

October 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Foremostco, Inc. (A)

Describes the rocky transition from an outdated, nonintegrated information system to a new customized system built by programmers in a small, IT-dependent foliage company that distributes plant material. The old system has increasingly become a "burning platform," but... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Crisis Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

1996
Chapter

Shark Harvesting and Resource Conservation

By: K. A. Wade-Benzoni, A. E. Tenbrunsel and M. H. Bazerman

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

April 2024
Teaching Plan

Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab

By: George Serafeim, Michael Norris and ZeSean Ali

This Teaching Plan for the case “Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab,” HBS No. 124-017, and its related products, serves to help faculty deepen students’ comprehension of business issues and energize classroom discussion.... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2014 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Yara International: Africa Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo and Kerry Herman

Leading fertilizer producer Yara International demonstrates the concept of creating shared value through the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) initiative, which brought together multiple organizations to enhance agricultural development in rural... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Tanzania; Agriculture Reform; Value Creation; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Tanzania

August 1988 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Optical Distortion, Inc. (C): The 1988 Reintroduction

In 1988, Optical Distortion, Inc. was ready to reintroduce its only product, contact lenses for chickens. Tests had shown that the lenses significantly reduced bird aggression and feed costs, leading to potentially huge cost savings for egg producers. In the years... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Ethics; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry