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The global research evidences indicate that the technology adoption in case of agribusiness has a potential to enhance the performance and bring operational efficiency. India is the world’s largest producer as well as consumer of milk but struggles with yield per cattle, overall productivity, low rate of technology acceptance and adoption, health detection of milching units, animal data recording and presence of dairy products in the global market. The purpose of this study is to focus on identifying the challenges of technology adoption in dairy farms and constructing a hierarchical model using soft systems methodology.

This study uses nominal group technique-based discussion with domain experts and personal interviews with dairy farm owners/managers for the identification of challenges, fuzzy interpretative structural modeling as well as FMICMAC to develop a hierarchical model of challenging elements and to divide the identified elements into four categories based on the dominance of driving-dependence power.

This research has developed a list of 12 challenges affecting the technology adoption in a dairy farm business unit, identified through the personal interviews with 60 dairy farms across three highest milk-producing states of India in terms of annual milk output – Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Lack of government support followed by lack of educational opportunities in dairy-based education were found as the most crucial and high driving challenges, whereas high cost, huge investment and low acceptance of decision-maker were found as the most dependent challenges of technology adoption.

This research is one step ahead of interpretive structural modeling that considers the fuzzy-based dominance in the model to showcase the degree of relationship along with its existence, but it lacks to statistically validate the findings using techniques like SEM.

This paper has developed a list of challenges in adoption of technology along with their inter-relationships to highlight the required focus challenge that drives or is dependent on the other challenges. The goal is to bring performance improvement and assist Indian dairy farm business stakeholders or decision-makers in formulating strategic and action plans and help policy planners to make favorable policies based on the understanding of contextual relationship between challenges.

In Indian context, dairy is an important part of agriculture sector, and milk is an essential item that facilitates income generation to small and rural households and a source item for several other businesses and activities. The results of this research suggested the policy planners and government to ensure subsidized and insured technologies, training support and facilities, educational opportunities and efforts for promotion of technology adoption among dairy farmers. The suggestions are purely on the basis of the relevance of challenges in the hierarchy and can play a significant role in improving the level of technology adoption and can ultimately uplift the social and economic well-being from micro-level of farmers to macro-stage concerning economic development of India.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is purely original and outcome of the research conducted by authors.

This case should facilitate participants to analyze the influence of internal and external factors on a growing company in the dairy, agro and food industries; analyze the drivers of a company’s competitive advantage; evaluate the relevance of the company in the new product-markets; and propose growth strategies for the expansion of the business beyond the core markets.

Gyan Dairy began its journey in 2007 and operated in the business-to-business segment by supplying skimmed milk powder and white butter to other dairy players. Then, the company launched its packaged milk brand in Lucknow – the capital city of Uttar Pradesh – one of the largest provinces in India. By the end of 2020, Gyan was the leading private dairy brand in Uttar Pradesh. The company’s vision was to become one of the top dairy brands in India by 2035. While deliberating on the growth choice, the company’s senior management debated whether to strengthen the company’s position in the existing markets or expand operations in adjacent locations. Increasing market share would have led to price wars or advertising costs. Diversifying into product categories involved the risk of product–market misfit and new product development and marketing costs. However, pursuing these options would further strengthen the company’s position in the North Indian market. Expanding into new locations would help establish the company’s presence across different parts of India. However, both these options were replete with various challenges. Expanding into new markets needed one of the promoters of the Gyan Diary, to relocate, build new markets and institutional connections and build a completely new localized economy of scale, which would create a financial burden on existing operations until the new operation was self-sustainable. However, in this journey, they would find and build a model to help expand their operations in other countries as well. Ideally, the company could pursue all the options, but this was not possible due to constrained resources.

This case allows students to discuss and evaluate alternate growth options associated with operationalizing the growth strategy choices in perishable branded food categories beyond existing markets and products. In addition, it also helps discuss how to arrive at such decisions after analyzing the focal firm’s market opportunities and existing capabilities. This case is helpful for the “growth strategy” module in the strategic management core course in a general MBA program and in specialized MBA programs in food and agri-business management.

This case is suitable for graduate-level courses on strategic management courses in general management programs and agri-business management programs. In a strategic management course, the case will help cover topics such as analysis of the internal and external environment of the firm and growth and expansion strategies. This case will help teach how to build competitive advantage in dairy and agro-food industries and the strategic analysis needed while pursuing growth decisions. Emerging markets, including India, are the growth markets for leading multinational companies in the food and dairy industries.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

After reading and discussing the case, the participants would be able to:▪ articulate the challenges associated with retailing of organic products.▪ suggest paid, owned and earned digital marketing tools to Manav Chetna Vikas Kendra (MCVK);▪ suggest a digital marketing budget;▪ discuss essential elements of a good website design; and▪ discuss various website analytics metrics.

This case describes the challenges faced by the founder, Ajay Dayama, and members of MCVK, who believed in the concept of sustainable community living through the production and marketing of organic food products. They believed that they would be able to share their philosophy of sustainable living through their products reaching out to a larger population rather than just being consumed by community members. This paved the way for the creation of a brand by the name SATT offering products under the lifestyle, nutriment and wellness categories. Marketing and sales of SATT products came with a bundle of challenges, and it was not easy to convince customers about the authenticity, quality and pricing of these products. Many organic products sold by competitors were available on e-commerce platforms, while SATT relied on direct marketing. Low customer acceptance for SATT products would weaken the sustainability dream of the community. How MCVK could increase awareness and acceptance of SATT products was a big area of concern for Ajay.

This case is suitable for students enrolled for full credit course on Digital Marketing at postgraduate level. The case can be discussed towards the middle of the course.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Member-owned business organizations, such as cooperatives, are engaged in various economic activities that touch our everyday lives. Sitajakhala Dugdha Utpadak Samabai Samiti Limited (Sitajakhala Dairy Producers Cooperative Society Limited) is a successful cooperative society in the northeastern region of India. The purpose of this case study is to illustrate how the cooperative manages its production and supply chain of milk and milk products and highlights several issues that the cooperative encountered in the recent past and how those issues were managed. This case also illustrates how an agribusiness cooperative has been growing over the years, including expansion of business and the creation of a brand image, as well as benefiting its members and their communities.

The authors used a case study approach where they went for in-person interviews of Sitajakhala's executive members and office staff; in addition, the authors were given access to Sitajakhala's marketing and financial records as well as its annual reports and vision documents.

Sitajakhala Co-op provides a platform where individual dairy farmers (most of who are small farmers and many of them are illiterate) can unite to bargain for higher prices for their milk. Due to its member-oriented business strategy, Sitajakhala Co-op has been growing well with active support of its members. Consistent quality control and marked improvements in labeling, bottling and packaging of milk and milk products has helped the cooperative to establish itself as a leader in dairy products supplier in Assam among bulk buyers as well as individual consumers. Sitajakhala cooperative also provides dairy farming related services to its members for free of charge to improve milk production and quality. One of the shortcomings of the cooperative is underutilization of its modern milk processing plant which needs to be addressed by the management in earnest.

This case study is based on information from one dairy cooperative in Assam, India; thus, the findings of this case may not translate into other dairy cooperatives in India or elsewhere. Nonetheless, cooperative practitioners may find the findings useful from a management perspective.

Sitajakhala Co-op management was keenly aware of the non-dairy related needs of the community it serves. Some of such services include free medical ambulance service for its members, supporting secondary education through providing merit and need-based scholarships and funding physical improvements to a local high school and a local college. In addition, the cooperative regularly provides funding to local sports and cultural events and local social institutions which have positive impact on the larger community. Sitajakhala cooperative has been providing employment to the local youth in the Morigaon area and plans on continuing to do so.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case study focusing on the management and operations of a dairy cooperative in the northeastern part of India. Knowledge gained from such study is expected to benefit not only Sitajakhala cooperative but also other dairy cooperatives in a similar situation. This case study will also benefit senior undergraduate and/or graduate students specializing in agricultural economics/agribusiness and can also be used for executive training for the management of academic institutions and food companies.

After working on the assignment questions, the learners can achieve the following learning outcomes: understand the buying behavior towards sustainable products in the context of mindful consumption and product characteristics, appraise the market segmentation and positioning strategy of a sustainable business, understand the application of 5C’s framework for a sustainable business and critically evaluate a new sustainable business’s challenges in the emerging business environment.

Dr Joe Fenn, founder and director of PFoods, with extensive experience in the pharma industry overseas, observed a decline in the consumption of traditional dairy foods. Alternative plant foods come as a savior to people who are lactose intolerant and offer a host of health benefits with low environmental impact. Riding on the waves of veganism and sustainable foods, he saw an opportunity in India. PFoods developed and launched two products, namely, Just Plants (plant-based milk alternative) and Plotein (plant-based protein alternative), in collaboration with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, a premier scientific institution in India, and PMEDS (PreEmptive Meds), a US-based nutraceutical Company. PFoods launched and pilot-tested Just Plant, a dairy alternative substitute for milk in select reputed organizations in Bangalore. The upcoming challenges for Fenn would be to select the right segment, educate the market and position the product that would resonate well with the target customers.

The case study suits undergraduate and graduate courses such as marketing management, sustainable marketing and sustainable business. The case study can also be used in entrepreneurship management and entrepreneurial marketing courses to introduce the challenges of a sustainable startup. The case study highlights the marketing challenges faced by the disruptive and growing plant-based foods or alternative dairy industry in emerging markets.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Effective agricultural product price regulation policies depend on market integration and the degree of symmetry in the transmission of agricultural product price signals. This study analyzes the transmission and asymmetry of the price series between the Ouagadougou consumer market and assembly markets considering three primary cereal products in Burkina Faso.

This study applies the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) econometric model, which is an asymmetric extension of the ARDL cointegration model. The price series examined covers the period extending from January 2005 to December 2020.

Our analysis provides novel insights regarding short- and long-term asymmetric effects in the transmission of price signals between assembly markets and the consumer market. We also determine that the effects of negative shocks are more persistent than those of positive shocks in several markets.

For markets that exhibit symmetrical responses of assembly market prices to consumer market prices, the results could reflect the continuous efforts of market players, particularly the government, to eliminate market failures and ensure the long-term efficiency of cereal markets. To this end, an agricultural market information system can have a crucial role in easing information access for all market players.

This study provides new evidence regarding the nature of the transmission and asymmetry of price information on primary cereal products in the largest markets in Burkina Faso. Applying the NARDL model makes it possible to simultaneously estimate short- and long-term asymmetry.

The case study offers interesting learning possibilities and offers the following learning opportunities to the learner. assess and conduct a macro- and micro-environmental analysis, comprehend the nature of the competitive landscape and how it changes when one looks at a digital-only versus an omnichannel marketplace, examine the product mix and policy of the firm and evaluate how it delivers customer value and analyse the pros and cons of growth strategies available to a firm and arrive at a viable and actionable future business and product strategy.

The short case study presents the story of a young start-up called Country Delight. The firm began operations in 2011 and was the brainchild of Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal. The direct-to-consumer firm addressed urban consumers’ non-articulated, latent need to get “fresh and uncontaminated” milk to their doorstep. Country Delight delivered farmer-to-consumer fresh cow and buffalo milk and milk products based on a well-designed and efficient value chain where the supply chain was either wholly owned or quality monitored by the firm. The firm began operations in India’s National Capital Region and was spread across 15 metro cities. Slowly, over the years, Gade and Kaushal added more product categories.Country Delight had a subscriber base of around 500,000, and the ambitious duo wanted to double their subscriber base and reach one million subscribers by financial year 2025. The firm was looking at various paths to achieve this number. Should Country Delight expand into new geographies? Or look at adding to the existing product portfolio? Diversification into agritourism, like the Pune-based vineyard – Sula, also looked attractive to build consumer engagement. Would taking the consumer to the farmers from whom they sourced the milk and vegetables contribute additional revenue to Country Delight and their farmer-suppliers? As the firm got ready to raise another round of funding, it needed a well-articulated growth strategy that was exciting and profitable for all stakeholders.

This case study presents the dilemma entrepreneurs face as they look at the next phase of growth. Thus, this case study serves as a learning opportunity for a graduate-level course in management and as a sounding board for those who aspire to enter the start-up space. Though this case study has the potential to illustrate basic concepts such as value chain and macro- and micro-environment analysis, the protagonist’s dilemma and the problem statement make it apt for integrated discussions that are critical in advanced electives in marketing management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Common availability of digital technologies encouraged companies in almost all industries to focus on exploring various ways of benefiting from their adoption and thus taking steps toward their digital transformation. This paper aims to describe the digital transformation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a challenging opportunity and identify ways in which companies from the food industry address it.

The paper presents empirical evidence based on a case study of the Polish freeze-drying market and companies operating on it. This study adopted a single case study research method to describe the digital transformation journey of SMEs. The sample constitutes a single sectoral case study with more than one unit of analysis – sixteen companies. The undertaken approach follows an embedded case study design and allows for an extensive and multidimensional analysis of rich empirical data.

The results of this analysis allowed to identify four significant trends describing human resources involvement in the digital transformation of freeze-drying companies in Poland (i.e. visionary top-down, cooperative task-oriented, persuasive bottom-up, chaotic), a detailed catalog of outcomes of digital transformation from the perspective of food industry companies grouped in seven categories and a list of main barriers to digital transformation.

This paper contributes to expanding knowledge on the practices of food industry companies in addressing challenges posed by the development of information technology and the dynamically changing environment after the COVID-19 pandemic. It contributes further to the discussion related to context-, industry- and country-specific barriers to digital transformation, identifying time-related constraints as an essential barrier to digital transformation.

The goal of the present research was to resolve two problems with contemporary methods used to assess consumer food waste: the lack of established categories of food wasting behaviours and difficulties in assessing food waste. In Studies 1 A and 1 B, a five-factor questionnaire for measuring food wasting behaviours was developed. Study 2 and Exploratory analyses verified whether the questionnaire allows for predicting the amount of wasted meat, dairy and bakery and a range of socioeconomic characteristics.

Based on pre-registered studies, a new questionnaire for measuring the frequency of food wasting behaviours, the Food Wasting Behaviours Questionnaire (FWBQ), was developed.

The results provided evidence that behaviours associated with food wasting could be narrowed down to five distinctive basic categories: (1) discarding food because of its' unpalatability; (2) preventing food waste through buying only the necessities; (3) preventing food waste through planning; (4) preventing food waste through sharing and (5) preventing food waste through feeding animals. The FWBQ allowed for investigating the socio-economic factors that influence food wasting behaviour. Finally, the FWBQ allowed for predicting the amount of wasted meat, dairy and bakery products. Also, particular factors were associated with a range of socioeconomic characteristics.

The FWBQ has been shown to be an inexpensive and easy-to-use method for systematising distinct categories of food wasting behaviours and demonstrating their determinants. The study takes an empirical approach (rather than intuitive) to distinguish separate categories of food wasting.

To understand a firm’s service concept and process; to explain the service design that differentiates itself by making trade-offs in operations and service offering; to identify the importance of deliberately designed interrelated systems and resources to achieve growth in services and to evaluate the fit of new design elements in the service offering.

Ajay Takeaway Foods LLP (Ajay Foods) is a food venture founded by Mr Jaideep Solanki and Mr Ajay Solanki and operates as a chain of quick service restaurants with a simple mission to sell food that is good, affordable and accessible to all. Ajay Foods serves only pure vegetarian and limited variants of burger, pizza and cold coffee. Ajay Foods rolled out 75 stores in just 18 months during the COVID 19 pandemic. Ajay Foods’ founders were contemplating on expanding menu. There was growing demand for food items such as samosa, wraps, sandwiches and French fries. One of the founders got into dilemma: How many items? and Which item(s) to add to the menu?

This case can be used at post-graduate level to teach basic frameworks of service concept and design. The case covers a range of topics such as service processes, service elements and product offerings in a service setting. It can be used effectively with MBAs and Hospitality Management program in courses that focus on Service Management, Service Operations or Service Marketing Strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.