Publications

2012
Working Paper

Entrepreneurship in the Natural Food and Beauty Categories Before 2000: Global Visions and Local Expressions

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the creation of the global natural food and beauty categories before 2000. This is shown to have been a lengthy process of new category creation involving the exercise of entrepreneurial imagination. Pioneering entrepreneurs faced little... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Consumer Goods; Entrepreneurs; Environment; Food; Globalization; Business History; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America

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December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Patents; Lawfulness; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

February 2019
Background Note

Mexican Farmworkers in the United States

By: Forest Reinhardt and Jonathan Schlefer

This note discusses the centuries-long history and current situation of Mexican farmworkers north of the border—documented or undocumented, resident or temporary, and increasingly indigenous. The story provides the background for discussion of dilemmas facing... View Details

Keywords: Migrant Farmworkers; Mexican Farmworkers; Agribusiness; Labor; History; Policy; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

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

September 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Technology Crises and the Future of Agribusiness: BSE in Europe

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Juan Enriquez-Cabot

Keywords: Technology; Agribusiness; Crisis Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe

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December 1985 (Revised January 1986)
Case

Agriculture, Technology, and Debt in Argentina

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Agribusiness; Borrowing and Debt; Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Argentina

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May 2020
Teaching Note

Danone: Changing the Food System

By: David E. Bell, Federica Gabrieli, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Amy Klopfenstein and Aldo Sesia

Teaching Note for HBS No. 520-053.
This is a teaching note for the case “Danone: Changing the Food System?” The case examines the efforts of one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies to resolve the social, environmental, and economic issues within... View Details

Keywords: Food; Goods and Commodities; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; France; Paris

July 2023
Technical Note

Agricultural Innovation and Sustainability in the Netherlands

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel, Kelsey Carter, Jennifer Godfrey, Rafaella Mazza and Katrina Yeh

This note describes some of the most significant agricultural innovations in the Netherlands, their drivers, environmental performance implications, some challenges facing the sector, and the potential replicability of these innovations to other contexts. View Details

Keywords: Agricultural; Decarbonization; Farming; Agribusiness; Science; Research and Development; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Netherlands

December 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull, Vincent Marie Dessain and Elena Corsi

Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003 decision to "decouple" payments to European farmers. Explores the logic behind agricultural supports, with a focus on the economic, political, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: History; Agreements and Arrangements; Price; Policy; Trade; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France; European Union

October 1988
Case

Beef Industry Council: ""Beef--Real Food for Real People"" Campaign

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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November 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Infarm: Betting the (Indoor) Farm on Food Security

By: Elie Ofek

In the summer of 2023, the co-founders of Infarm, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company, were contemplating a major pivot going forward. While Infarm had successfully shown it could grow over 75 products—mainly herbs, leafy greens and mushrooms—in modular... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Transition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; North America; Toronto; Northeastern United States

October 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Malaysia: Standing on a Single Leaf

By: Diego Comin, Maurice Kuykendoll and Monne Williams

The case discusses the development of palm oil in Malaysia. This experience provides important insights about when and how government intervention can be successful in developing new sectors in the economy. View Details

Keywords: Malaysia; Industrial Policy; Agriculture; Palm Oil; Innovation; Plantations; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business and Government Relations; Innovation and Invention; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Malaysia

20 Dec 2018
Blog Post

A Time For Opportunity In Food and Agriculture

food and agribusiness is growing among MBAs at Harvard Business School. In the past couple of years, for example, membership in the student Food, Agriculture, and Water (FAW) Club has nearly doubled. To help meet that interest, on October... View Details

November 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Disrupting the Meat Industry: Tissue Culture Beef

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Dr. Mark Post and his team at Maastricht University were perfecting their tissue culture beef product—made entirely from muscle grown in his lab—to give it the same taste, texture and appearance of a traditional beef hamburger. A previous iteration of this product had... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Beef Production; Environmental Impacts Of Food Production; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Environmental Sustainability; Food; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Netherlands; United States; United Kingdom

July 2005
Case

Freemark Abbey Winery (Abridged)

Freemark Abbey must decide whether to harvest in view of the possibility of rain. Rain could damage the crop but delaying the harvest would be risky. On the other hand, rain could be beneficial and greatly increase the value of the resulting wine. This decision is... View Details

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

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Mondavi Winery

Examines Mondavi Winery's struggle to communicate its value proposition to the market following an apparently successful IPO. The Mondavi Winery had a strong reputation for innovation in the wine industry and had undertaken an IPO to secure the funding needed to... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Initial Public Offering; Innovation and Management; Communication Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

07 Jun 2018
News

Sowing the Seeds of Leadership

in agricultural sciences and natural resources management and a master’s in agribusiness innovation. Courses are taught by an international faculty and emphasize experiential education in sustainable agriculture and ethical... View Details

December 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Keggfarms (India): Which Came First, the Kuroiler(TM) or the KEGG(TM)?

Vinod Kapur has founded a unique enterprise, Keggfarms, based on a special poultry chicken he bred to address the nutritional and income needs of some of the poorest people on earth: India's rural villagers. As of November 2006, Keggfarms was supplying chicks to about... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; For-Profit Firms; Social Entrepreneurship; Competition; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Helmy Abouleish: Making a Desert Bloom

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Maxim Pike Harrell

This case examines the history of prominent Egyptian-based social enterprise SEKEM from its foundation in 1977 until the COP27 conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022. Led by father and son team Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish, SEKEM turned desert into farmland using... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Climate Change; Values and Beliefs; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Egypt