Before helping small farmers with market access, think through these three things first

Over the years, I have received quite a few phone calls, E-mails or in-person visits; some friends want to support the agricultural products of friendly small farmers, or even fully support the agricultural products of Xiuming natural farming.

The starting point is all very good, the philosophy is very good, and I am also willing to support it, and I am glad to see such things happen. But when it comes down to the real commercial behavior of a distribution channel or food and beverage business, there are considerations of cost, selling price and whether supply is stable.

Friendly small farmers' agricultural products all have a certain selling price. Some Xiuming farmers' agricultural products are more expensive and some are about the same, but relative to mainstream agricultural products on the market, they are definitely more expensive.

There are many factors why farmers set such prices. Perhaps the yield is low, so it is necessary to set a higher price; perhaps it is too sought after, so they set it higher; perhaps the cost is simply higher; perhaps the farmer's family finances need more; perhaps it is simply that they set it by referring to other people's prices.

But as a distribution channel or food and beverage operator (or agricultural processor), because the proportion of raw material cost is not low, and the common business principle is that good quality at a low price will definitely sell well, in order to sell well they will hope farmers give discounts on the selling price, so as to lower costs.

But if, without distinguishing reasons and without asking about the substance, one demands that farmers lower their prices in order to achieve the success rate of this distribution channel or food and beverage operator, that is too easy! It is also just sacrificing farmers to achieve oneself.

But if one completely accepts the farmer's price, then one's own selling price will be too high and sell poorly, and that is also sacrificing oneself and cannot last long. Unless there is a way to make consumers willing to accept it.

In this matter, if one wants to help small farmers through a distribution channel or food and beverage business, there must be more understanding and communication.

2. Who Needs to Be Helped?

There are quite a few small farmers or Xiuming farmers who, because they have been operating longer and have accumulated more customers, or because their yield is simply not high, never need to worry much about sales! At this time, wanting to help these small farmers through a distribution channel or food and beverage business is fundamentally unnecessary!

Those who truly need help should be small farmers who are just starting out, or small farmers willing to expand their area to satisfy distribution channels or food and beverage operators, or small farmers who cannot find enough customers when facing a bumper harvest, or those unable to deal with too many agricultural products with cosmetic defects, or farmers with certain types of agricultural products or processed products that are relatively difficult to sell out.

But with so many different situations, how can one know? Farmers with unsellable products usually have no reputation and are not known to outsiders. How should distribution channels or food and beverage operators find those who need help?

And how should they face the unstable diversity of ingredients from these different farmers?

For example, in a certain winter, white radishes have a bumper harvest and suddenly cannot be sold out. This distribution channel or food and beverage operator has the ability to help solve it, and also has the skill, after marketing or cooking, to make consumers happy to accept it!

These different situations require those who want to be distribution channels or food and beverage operators to personally face small farmers and make friends with them, and to track the current situation at any time in order to know!

3. Supply Volume

Small farmers are not large farms and cannot have crops harvested at any time. But as a distribution channel or food and beverage business, if a certain scale is not achieved, it will inevitably be unable to bear costs such as rent, personnel, water and electricity, meaning that every day the doors open, a certain amount of crops must come in to be sold or processed.

But the unstable characteristics of small farmers do not match the characteristics of doing business?

Then it is necessary to combine more small farmers, and even negotiate contract farming or regular supply with small farmers. But what if supply problems still arise due to factors such as climate? Especially since Xiuming natural farming currently has many farmers but all have unstable yields; ordinary small farmers also have similar problems, only a bit better.

Moreover, crops also have issues with solar terms and favorable weather. In that case, the distribution channel or food and beverage operator still has to maintain a very close relationship with several small farmers, but in the early stage the distribution channel or food and beverage operator will inevitably have to cooperate with larger farmers who can supply more stably.

I once had a stranger call and say she wanted to do something like a distribution channel for friendly farming, but the point of the call was to ask me to sell a bit cheaper so she could sell well. Or some friends who were not yet familiar would say as their first sentence: how much can you supply me, and what is the price you can supply at? Many farmers have their own stable customers, so how could they give you a lot just because you want a lot?

To do this business, even if the starting point is very good, one still has to communicate with small farmers willing to cooperate on the following questions. As long as one does it very attentively and creatively, communicates attentively with farmers, and communicates attentively with consumers who come in, hopefully those with the aspiration can all do it.