Progress 07/01/04 to 06/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: C-FAR 2005 Internal. This project focuses on the development of economically viable high-quality supply chains for value-added livestock products. The overall goal is to give producers greater access to markets currently being served by commodity supply chains. Illinois meat processors were surveyed to develop a profile of meat processors most likely to participate in a quality-driven supply chain and to determine their perceived educational needs. This data shows a significant need for training and education for small- to mid-sized meat processors focused on marketing, food safety, governmental regulations, and technology. Approximately 85% of consumers are concerned about "where their food comes from." Researchers have collaborated with the Illinois Association of Meat Processors to focus on how local meat processors can benefit from the interest in local and regional food systems. Small- and mid-sized meat processors working with livestock producers can be the ultimate
local food providers. Collaboration with the Illinois Food Retailers Association has resulted in completion of food retailer focus groups, individual interviews, and store audits, followed by personnel training and a written survey. The findings of this study indicate that meat department managers recognize the need for personnel training, and that training can have an impact on in-store shrink. Concerning working directly with livestock producers, meat department managers have a relationship with their distributors, and regardless of the nature of this relationship, they are reluctant to risk loosing the present supplier. Consequently, researchers are currently working with the Illinois Beef Association to survey meat distributors to determine their level of interest in working with livestock producers to develop pull-demand for differentiated meat products.
PARTICIPANTS: Individuals: Darlene Knipe, University of Illinois Extension, was the project's Primary Investigator, managing the overall project. In addition, she lead the effort with Dr. Goldsmith to survey both meat department managers and packer processors, as well as further development of MarketMaker. She was also responsible for networking with Chicago area food retailers, as well as participated in educational outreach on marketing and market development topics. Dr. Richard Knipe, University of Illinois Extension, was responsible for identification of cooperating processors and retailers, and assisting in survey data collection. He also handled dissemination of project findings to beef producers and industry media, plus collecting MarketMaker data from livestock producers. Dr. Alan Miller, University of Illinois Department of Animal Science, became the point person for the collection of survey data from both meat processors and meat department managers. Dr. Floyd McKeith,
University of Illinois Department of Animal Science, assisted with the meat processor survey tool, as well as heading up the audits of retail meat departments, collection and analysis of the data, and the educational component for the retailers. Due to time restraints, Dr. Gregg Rentfrow at the University of Kentucky assisted in the meat department manager survey and the store audits. Dr. Peter Goldsmith, Department of Agricutlure and Comsumer Sciences, assisted with the development of the survey tools, and collect survey data from both the processors and meat department managers. Patrick Curry, University of Illinois Extension, was responsible for survey data analysis for the meat processor survey work. Partner Organizations: Illinois Food Retailers Association: Assisted with the contacts for retailer focus groups, individual interviews, etc. IFRA also was responsible for mailing out the written survey, and following up with reminders, etc. Illinois Association of Meat Processors:
Collaborated to develop educational venues for small to mid-sized meat processors, as a result of the survey work.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences: The target audiences for this project were the meat department managers in food retail and small to mid-sized processors to determine what motivators and incentives must be integrated into a supply chain model to insure their participation. The overall project target audience, for which MarketMaker was developed, includes anyone involved in characteristic food supply chains.
PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Due to some personnel changes some of the work was delayed, and some was outsourced to University of Kentucky personnel, but the final project was implemented as planned.
Impacts
The MarketMaker website was developed as an online marketing resource to give Illinois farmers greater access to regional markets by linking them with processors, retailers, consumers and other food supply chain participants. It is currently one of the most extensive collections of searchable food industry related data in the country and contains over 200,000 profiles of farmers and other food related enterprises in Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, Kentucky, and New York. All the information can be mapped and queried by the user. The site was created by a team of University of Illinois Extension researchers with the intention of building an electronic infrastructure that would more easily connect food producing farmers with economically viable new markets and aid in the development of quality driven food supply chains. The project was funded by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, University of Illinois Extension, and the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural
Research (C-FAR). Creating a National Food Marketing Data Base - Taking the single state concept and expanding it into a regional and national model will significantly grow the economic impact of this marketing resource. A multi-state partnership of land grant institutions and state agricultural agencies has formed to build a national network of interconnected MarketMaker sites. Twenty states have expressed their support and a willingness to commit local resources for the project and would be the first states on-line with this new network of consumer and food industry data. The Iowa MarketMaker site came on-line in early 2006, Nebraska MarketMaker site was released in the summer of 2006, Kentucky MarketMaker came on-line in February 2007. More recent state MarketMaker sites include New York, June 2007, and Georgia, September 2007. Included in the partnership is Cornell University Extension. New York MarketMaker, in addition to Illinois, allows users to access marketing information
from two of the four largest consumer markets in the United States. Strategy for Building the Electronic Infrastructure- The MarketMaker project team is building a platform that accommodates a multi-state application, allowing speedier downloads of data. They will also formally evaluate the current site and determine improvements that would make the interface as user friendly as possible. Each partner state has their own unique site, but all sites access a common database. This allows for users to query all states in the system. Each state creates their own educational outreach program that would teach food entrepreneurs how to use the site and the basics of marketing value added food products.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
C-FAR 2005 Internal. Illinois Meat Processors were surveyed to develop a profile of meat processors most likely to contribute and benefit from participating in a quality driven supply chain and to determine their perceived educational needs. This data is being used to develop educational programming for small to mid-sized meat processors, focused on marketing, food safety, governmental regulations, and technology. Results were presented at the Illinois Meat Processors Annual Conference. The research team is currently working with the Association of Illinois Meat Processors and the Illinois Livestock Development Group to leverage efforts to educate and assist Illinois meat processors in their marketing efforts. The research team has also been involved in the feasibility study of a poultry processing plant and a producer owned organic/all-natural meat processing plant. Leveraging efforts with the Illinois Food Retailers Association has resulted in completion of food
retailer focus groups, individual interviews, and a written survey. This survey data is currently being analyzed and will drive the next steps of educational outreach effort for food retailers, including an in-store audit and testing of the impact of training on meat department profitability. MarketMaker was created to build an electronic infrastructure that would more easily connect food producing farmers with economically viable new markets and aid in the development of quality driven food supply chains, specifically to give Illinois farmers greater access to regional markets by linking them to all other food supply chain participants. It is currently the most extensive collection of searchable food industry related data in the country and contains over 65,000 profiles of food related enterprises. All the information can be mapped and queried by the user. In the past year, over 800 producers have listed their products on the site and MarketMaker has had over 600,000 hits. Taking the
single state concept and expanding it into a regional/ national model is significantly growing the economic impact of this marketing resource. A twenty-state partnership of land grant institutions and state agricultural agencies has formed to build a national network of interconnected MarketMaker sites. In the past 12 months Nebraska MarketMaker has been brought on-line and two additional state sites are under development (Kentucky and New York). Results of this project have been presented at 2 national peer reviewed conferences (abstracts), including the National Value-Added Ag Conference and the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals. Extension staff and faculty have presented results and shared the sites with potential users at the Illinois Meat Processors Conference, Illinois Food Retailers Conference, commodity conferences, farm shows and Extension events throughout Illinois. This team sponsors an annual "Marketing Strategies for Consumer- Driven
Agriculture" specifically for producers of non-commodity ag products.
Impacts
The identification of a supply chain structure that functions efficiently enough to insure long term sustainability while still meeting the needs of all supply chain participants including meat processors and retail meat managers. To refine and improve an electronic medium for e-commerce within the value-added meat industry that stimulates is a significant increase in the development of new enterprises in the meat industry.
Publications
- Knipe, D. and Knipe, R. 2006. Using technology to educate and link entrepreneurial farmers to consumer markets. National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals. February, 2006.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
C-FAR 2005 Internal. A survey tool was developed and mailed to both State Inspected plants and Federally Inspected plants. The purpose was to identify key factors influencing decision makers within the meat processing industry. Additional information was collected at the Illinois Meat Processors Convention. Surveys are being summarized and cross-tabulated by plant to develop a profile of meat processors most likely to contribute and benefit from participating in a quality driven supply chain. This data summary will be available for distribution at the winter meetings in 2006. Mid-sized Illinois meat processors have been identified and researchers are doing face-to-face interviews to more completely understand their interest and motivation in a value-added meat supply chain. The research team has also been involved in the feasibility study of a poultry processing plant and a producer owned organic/ all-natural meat processing plant in Illinois. The site is called
MarketMaker www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu and was developed by University of Illinois researchers as an electronic medium to create linkages from farm to plate and to serve as a repository for market intelligence related to the food industry. The site was conceived and developed in an earlier research project. In this project the focus has been on improvements, enhancements and the impact of making marketing data of this nature widely available. In the first year of this project, the team has focused on development of the value-added food producer database, since this data is not currently available. There are currently at least 4, including MarketMaker, incomplete database web-sites with Illinois farmers producing and selling value-added products. The MarketMaker team is working to coordinate the 4 teams and compile the databases into one more complete set that all teams could add to and access from for their respective marketing web-site. In addition the project team is exploring the
potential economic impact of a regional version of this tool. An Iowa version of MarketMaker has been completed and linked to the current Illinois version and an additional 12 states are potential candidates for expansion. As each state comes on-line the incremental impact will be tracked and evaluated.
Impacts
The identification of a supply chain structure that functions efficiently enough to insure long term sustainability while still meeting the needs of all supply chain participants including meat processors and retail meat managers. To refine and improve an electronic medium for e-commerce within the value-added meat industry that stimulates is a significant increase in the development of new enterprises in the meat industry.
Publications
- Pike, J., Knipe, R. and Knipe, D. 2005. Regional food supply chains as a tool for rural economic development. National Association of Community Development Extensioin Professionals. Abstract Feb. 2005.
- Knipe, D., Knipe, R. and Pike, J. 2005. MarketMaker: A technology tool For economic development. National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals. Abstract. Feb. 2005.
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