A strategic alliance with local farmers.

I always tell my students that they need to look around at their surroundings to see what is happening and see if they can link it with the  syllabus in any way. Doing this will make it easier to remember concepts and ideas.

I was lucky enough to visit Germany recently to do some work. I noticed an unusual vending machine and it made me think of strategic alliances.

Strategic alliances can come in a variety of forms including the very large formal Joint Ventures such as Sony Ericsson (a 50:50 JV between Sony and Ericsson) and co-operation agreements such as the airline alliances of Sky Team and Star Alliance.

What was unusual about the vending machine that I saw? The thing that caught my eye was that the vending machine sold fresh farmers produce such as milk, eggs and sausages rather than the typical selection of snacks that you would find in vending machines.

Farmers are facing a tough time at the moment. Distribution channels can be a problem for farmers. If they sell through the large supermarket chains they can end up in a weak negotiating position. Selling direct to the customer is something that a lot of farmers don’t have the skills or facilities to undertake.

Some further investigation found out that a number of farms have collaborated with a vending machine manufacturer to stock these machines in several towns in Germany. This alliance is helping both parties. The farmers for example now have a great new distribution outlet. The customers also appear to be pretty happy as they get fresh local produce in a convenient location. The fact that the “middle man” is removed also means that the produce is priced very competitively.

Will we see this expanding to other items and other parts of the world?