High-tech horticulture production methods (such as vertical farming, hydroponics and other related technology possibilities), combined with evolving market side possibilities (consumer’s willingness to pay for variety, food safety and security), are opening new ways to create and deliver value. In this paper we present four emerging business models and attempt to understand the conditions under which each business model is able to create positive market value and sustained business advantage. The first of these four models is the case of a vertically integrated production to retail operation. The second model is the case of a production model with assured retail/distribution side commitment. The third model deals with a marketing/branding driven production model with differentiated market positioning. Finally, the forth is a production model with direct delivery to the end-consumer based upon the leveraging of wide spread digital technology in the consumer market. To demonstrate these four business models, we analyze practical case studies and analyze their market approach and impact. Using this analysis, we create a framework that enables entrepreneurs and businesses to adopt a business model that matches their capabilities with market opportunities.
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This quick guide is written to inspire designers, policy makers, company owners, employees, educators and students to change the linear economy into a circular economy by collaborating in local value chains. This guide explains the basics of circular economy, value chains and it gives practical tips for you to work with and practical examples to learn from. It is developed within the context of the Biocup project, part of the BIOCAS Interreg project supported by the North Sea Programme of the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union.
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Speech by dr. Robert Baars at the official inauguration as Professor in Climate Smart Dairy Value Chains at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, 24th September 2021, Dairy Campus, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
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The Interreg Europe eBussed project supports the transition of European regions towards low carbon mobility and more efficient transport. The regions involved are Turku (Finland), Hamburg (Germany), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Livorno (Italy), South Transdanubia (Hungary) and Gozo island in Malta. It promotes the uptake of e-busses in new regions and supports the expansion of existing e-fleets. Within the project, there are four thematic working groups formed that aim at delivering a best practices report and policy recommendations to be used in the partner regions. Thematic Working Group 4 (TWG4) focusses on the topics of Procurement, Tendering and Costs of e-busses. As a starting point for TWG4, the value chain for e-bus public transport per region has been mapped. By mapping how the value chain for e-bus public transport works and defining the nature of the issues, problems or maybe challenges per region can be better understood.
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This booklet presents sixteen 'practice briefs' which are popular publications based on 12 Master and one Bachelor theses of Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences (VHL). All theses were commissioned through the research project entitled 'Inclusive and climate smart business models in Ethiopian and Kenyan dairy value chains (CSDEK)'. The objective of this research is to identify scalable, climate smart dairy business models in the context of the ongoing transformation from informal to formal dairy chains in Kenya and Ethiopia.
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Seafood is a highly traded commodity that is exposed to a wide range of environmental and social sustainability challenges. Digitalization of the seafood value chain helps to address these challenges. Using Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis, this paper presents a qualitative case study on the conditions for adoption of digitalization by Dutch fisheries. Field results show the different digital technologies available in the Dutch fisheries ranging from sensors, Internet-of-Things, blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. Despite several identified incentives such as improved fuel efficiency, reduced fishing time, and increased catch productivity, there is in general a low commitment from fishers to adopt digital technologies. First, the benefits are perceived to be uncertain due to costs, investments, and inherent risks associated with technology adoption as well as external risks related to prices, catches and government regulations. Second, there is profound resistance from fishers to collect and share data due to lack of trust between fishers and the government, and among fishers due to competitive nature of fishing. This research proposes design arrangement for implementing digitalization that considers: 1) horizontal coordination (producer organization or association) to move from individualistic to collective fishing practices, 2) viable business model to incentivize data collection, 3) connecting fishers to ecosystem of stakeholders for sharing incentives and risks, and 4) technological solutions to protect strategic interests in sharing data. This study contributes to literature by linking GVC governance, sustainability, and digitalization, and by providing a systems approach that considers coordination, incentives, and risks in fishers’ decision making in GVC.
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Banana is an important commercial fruit crop for smallholder farmers in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia. However, its sector is experiencing many constraints and limited attention given to productivity and marketing. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the banana value chain in order to identify constraints on productivity and marketing, and possibilities of improvements towards a sustainable value chain in Arba Minch. Data were collected through a survey, key informants’ interviews, and focus group discussions. Different analytical and statistical tools were used for data analysis. Results describe actors, supporters, and influencers of the existing banana chain. The current banana chain has three different distribution channels in Arba Minch. The channel that connects with rural consumers has the highest value share for farmers while the channel that includes traveling traders has the lowest value share for farmers. The marketing cooperative channel has an intermediate value share for farmers in the chain. Poor agronomic practice, diseases, pests, and climate change were the major constraints for the banana yield while limited market information, lack of cold store and refrigerated trucks, poor post-harvest handling, lack of alternative markets, and weak capacity of cooperatives were the main constraints for banana marketing in Arba Minch. Economic, social and environmental indicators have a moderate sustainability performance within the Ethiopian context. The chain has an advantage in terms of profitability, employment, emission of air pollutants and constraints in terms of coordination, value share, profit margin, market diversity, product and market information, transportation, waste management, and safety and hygiene.
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Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have become global players in the current globalized labour market and their economic activities are no longer territorially limited, but they extend in different countries, thereby leading to the development of global supply chains. Against this background, companies’ operations are increasingly conducted by foreign subsidiaries and they are being outsourced to business partners worldwide. In both cases, lower working conditions and production costs in foreign countries are one of the driving factors leading to this business choice.
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Op 27 januari 2006 is dr. Michiel Scheffer geïnstalleerd als lector Fashion Materials Design bij Saxion in Enschede. Het lectoraat en de bijbehorende kenniskring is gericht op het versterken van de wisselwerking tussen creativiteit, technologie en economie op het gebied van mode en textiel. Deze wisselwerking moet sterker tot uiting komen in het onderwijs en dient ook in samenwerking met het bedrijfsleven tot uiting te komen in een onderzoeksprogramma. Het lectoraat is ondergebracht bij de opleiding Fashion en Textiel Management binnen de Academie voor Kunst en Toegepaste Techniek in Enschede. Dr. Michiel Scheffer is economisch geograaf en is al vijftien jaar actief in de Europese kleding en textielbranche als onderzoeker, consultant en branchemanager. Dit boek bevat de tekst van de lectorale rede van Michiel Scheffer.
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The circular economy (CE) is heralded as reducing material use and emissions while providing more jobs and growth. We explored this narrative in a series of expert workshops, basing ourselves on theories, methods and findings from science fields such as global environmental input-output analysis, business modelling, industrial organisation, innovation sciences and transition studies. Our findings indicate that this dominant narrative suffers from at least three inconvenient truths. First, CE can lead to loss of GDP. Each doubling of product lifetimes will halve the related industrial production, while the required design changes may cost little. Second, the same mechanism can create losses of production jobs. This may not be compensated by extra maintenance, repair or refurbishing activities. Finally, ‘Product-as-a-Service’ business models supported by platform technologies are crucial for a CE transition. But by transforming consumers from owners to users, they lose independence and do not share in any value enhancement of assets (e.g., houses). As shown by Uber and AirBNB, platforms tend to concentrate power and value with providers, dramatically affecting the distribution of wealth. The real win-win potential of circularity is that the same societal welfare may be achieved with less production and fewer working hours, resulting in more leisure time. But it is perfectly possible that powerful platform providers capture most added value and channel that to their elite owners, at the expense of the purchasing power of ordinary people working fewer hours. Similar undesirable distributional effects may occur at the global scale: the service economies in the Global North may benefit from the additional repair and refurbishment activities, while economies in the Global South that are more oriented towards primary production will see these activities shrink. It is essential that CE research comes to grips with such effects. Furthermore, governance approaches mitigating unfair distribution of power and value are hence essential for a successful circularity transition.
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