Publications

October 2016 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Indigo Agriculture

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and Christine Snively

Indigo Agriculture had successfully developed and launched its first commercial product, microbe-enhanced cotton seeds, on an accelerated product development timeline. In late 2016, as the company was about to launch its second product, winter wheat, the management... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Agribusiness; Science-Based Business; Operations; Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry

December 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Technical Note

A Note on the Snack Food Industry

By: David Bell, Kerry Herman and Amram Migdal

This note provides an overview of the snacking industry in 2017. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe; Asia; China; Latin America; Middle East

01 Dec 2010
News

You Are What You Eat

Writing in the magazine Pig Progress (September 23, 2010), Austria-based John Hodges (AMP 52, 1967),an expert on genetics and ethics in agriculture, food, and the environment, warned that the current system of agribusiness is untenable.... View Details

Keywords: agricultural intensification; Animal Production and Aquaculture; Agriculture

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Against the Grain: Jim Teague in Tanzania (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna

Loan officer Jim Teague discovers his agro-processor client has a serious health-code violation just days before a disbursement is due. Proceeding with the loan could jeopardize the health of thousands of customers and put his employer at serious risk. But withholding... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Financing and Loans; Health; Risk Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Tanzania

2017
Article

Agricultural Insurance and Economic Development

By: Shawn A. Cole and Wentao Xiong

This article provides a review of recent research on agricultural insurance (AI) in developing countries. Agricultural producers face a variety of significant risks; historically, only government-subsidized products have achieved widespread adoption. A recent... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Insurance; Developing Countries and Economies; Adoption; Risk Management; Research; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Oct 1996
News

Uhlmann Award Winners Focus on French Retailer

The winners of the 1996 R. Hugh Uhlmann Award for outstanding research in the field of agribusiness have a truly global perspective -- all three recipients are international students. For their prize-winning project, Peter Baeza... View Details

November 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Mid-Missouri Energy: Ethanol from Corn

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Noel Michele Holbrook, James Weber and Karla Sartor

Mid-Missouri Energy (MME) is a farmer-owned cooperative that produces ethanol from corn. The cooperative has performed well in comparison to other producers, but margins in the industry had declined as industry production levels neared market demand limits. MME farmers... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

18 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Who Controls Water?

(HBS MBA'87), director of the Agribusiness Program at HBS. A Family Farm Woolf Farming & Processing, established in 1974, is located in the southern part of California's Central Valley, one of the most fertile areas in the country.... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness

17 May 2017
News

Nisa Godrej Takes Over

Agrovet, an agribusiness division of the conglomerate. A 2014 profile in the HBS Alumni Bulletin outlines her approach: Her first board placement upon returning [from HBS] was with Agrovet. She noticed gaping wounds in the balance sheet... View Details

December 2007 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Queensland Sugar Limited

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Until industry deregulation in 2006, Queensland Sugar ran Australia's single desk marketing system for raw sugar exports. Since deregulation, eight of the ten Queensland sugar millers have elected to continue collective marketing through QSL. However, several millers... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Goods and Commodities; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain; Network Effects; Supply and Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

29 Mar 2017
News

Randy Day Named Perdue Farms CEO

was seen by some in the agribusiness sector as a safe move for the innovative company, writes DelmarvaNow. But Day was quick to counter that perception, telling the news outlet that “he will be just as willing as Perdue has always been to... View Details

March 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Stonyfield Farm: September 1994

Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg founded Stonyfield Farm in 1983, in part to demonstrate that "environmentally and socially responsible businesses can also be profitable." In 1994, the company has grown to over $21 million in revenues, derived mainly from refrigerated... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Food; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Hampshire; California; Russia

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Inge Skjelfjord and the Cacao Supply Chain

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Oludamilola Aladesanmi and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

December 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Tyson Foods, Inc.

By: José B. Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin and Matthew G. Preble

Fast Answer

Commodities

yields and prices for agricultural commodities throughout the world. See also USDA Foreign Agricultural Service PSD Online. Consult the Baker Library Research Guide on Agribusiness Consult the Guide to Food and Agriculture Organization... View Details

December 2015
Case

The Hain Celestial Group

By: David E. Bell, José B. Alvarez, James Weber and Mary Shelman

Hain Celestial manufactured natural and organic food and personal care products to be sold to retailers of these products. The company had grown successfully and profitably through acquisitions and organically for two decades. In late 2015, Hain faced challenges on... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Strategy; Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; United States

June 2024
Teaching Note

Lemonade Crypto Coalition: Navigating Innovation and Sustainability in Agricultural Insurance

By: Marco Di Maggio

November 2024 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details