Publications

December 2011 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Fonterra

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

In 2011, Fonterra, the world's largest processor and exporter of dairy products, needed to reposition its business to take advantage of rising demand in emerging markets in Asia. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Positioning; Emerging Markets; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Asia

18 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Who Controls Water?

through the years sharp rises in agricultural production and population quickly depleted the local water supplies. In response, the state and federal governments stepped in and created a water infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

its start in Parma, Italy, in 1899, when the great-grandfather of current CEO-owner Francesco Mutti canned and sold tomatoes to an illiterate rural population that identified the product by the two lions on its label. Even from the start... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Agriculture & Agribusiness

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

Near the Guatemalan border in Mexico's Chiapas region, sandwiched between the Sierra Madres and the Pacific Ocean, there's a fertile pocket of land called the Soconusco. While once a hotbed of cacao production for the Aztecs and then the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Agriculture & Agribusiness

July 2001
Supplement

Delamere Vineyard

Richard Richardson, owner and manager of Delamere Vineyard in Piper's River, Tasmania, Australia, tours his vineyard and explains the process of making wine. He also describes the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment that come from producing a fine product. View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Production; Satisfaction; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

23 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Businesses Need a 'Catalyst' to Make CSR Practices Stick

who has helped to implement such projects overseas. In Uganda, for example, Palladium helped strengthen a local trading organization so that it could enable a large regional brewing company to replace imported agricultural View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 25, 2022
Article

Why Sharing Economic Growth with the Community Is Good Business

By: José A. Tiburcio, Lino Miguel Dias and Robert S. Kaplan

Subsistence dairy ranchers in Central America struggle to stay afloat during the dry season when grass is scarce. Global life sciences company Bayer has launched a program to enable them to produce their own corn silage feed. The results of this program are helping to... View Details

Keywords: Sharing Economy; Innovation; Economic Growth; Poverty; Production; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Central America

Read Now

03 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 3, 2006

consistently net importers of food products that are heavily supported by OECD governments. Using a cross-country regression framework we measure the overall impact of agricultural support policies in rich... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

common theme and we were able to detect some patterns. There basically is an infinite combination of five core strategies being used across a spectrum of impact to make positive change. The strategies include finance for social purpose, capacity building, View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

01 Oct 1971
Conference Presentation

La Modernizacion de la Produccion y los Ajustes en el Sistema de Mercadea: El Caso de la Industria Arrocera Nicaraguense

By: James E. Austin

Keywords: Production; Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Nicaragua

30 Jan 2006
HBS Case

The Case of the Mystery Writer’s Brand

perspective. "I'd never actually heard a product speak," he recalls. "It was like listening to a can of Coca-Cola explain how it would like to be marketed." That initial encounter inspired Deighton to write... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

April 2020
Supplement

Luvo (B)

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This case, a follow on to HBS No. 517-049 "Luvo," provides a brief look at changes that have occurred at Luvo, now called Performance Kitchen, since the timing of the first case (mid-2016). Set in January 2020, “Luvo (B)” touches on developments such as the company's... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Nutrition; Food; Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Canada

03 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 3, 2008

association, fair pay practices) and whether these codes have affected their business outcomes (e.g., staff turnover and absenteeism, product defect rates, sales growth). In this paper, we review the existing evaluations of other private... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Simplot Plant Sciences: Designing a Better Potato

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Shelman

Privately held Simplot has developed a new genetically engineered potato that substantially reduces waste and does not turn brown after cutting. Unlike other GMOs, it does not contain foreign genes. The case describes the company's commercialization plans in light of... View Details

Keywords: GMO; Sustainability; Agribusiness; Biotechnology; Food And Environment; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Product Positioning; Genetics; Value Creation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

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

January 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Cybertech Project (A), The

Describes the development and exploitation of a radical new computer-integrated technology in the largely manual meat-processing industry. The technology has been developed by the meat industry's research organization over a period of 15 years and is now ready for... View Details

Keywords: Production; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Product Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry