Agricultural businesses and farms are increasingly challenged by a rapidly changing business environment and an increased global competition. The vast majority of European agricultural entrepreneurs which are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need to find new ways to compete with the international network and structures of multi-national companies. Innovative marketing methods and tools can be a step to support SMEs and increase their knowledge and bargaining power.
There is a great potential for regional and local products in the market, but a lack of marketing strategies, such as regional branding that enable SMEs to better address the consumers’ need for local, high-quality products. The Farm Inc. project will contribute to the strengthening of agricultural SMEs by developing tools that will help agricultural entrepreneurs to:
• Gain an increased understanding of the necessity to apply novel marketing strategies, such as regional branding
• Upgrade the skills and competences of agricultural entrepreneurs in order to better brand and market their products
• Provide help and support for businesses to open up new markets and to internationalize their business activities in order to stay more competitive in a global market
The Farm Inc. project will provide help and support to SMES and improve the quality and tools of the existing continuous vocational education and training (VET) in the agricultural sector in the participating countries. The project builds on the innovative methodological training tool for marketing from the “proud farmer” project produced by the Latvian Farmers Parliament and aims to upgrade the skills of agricultural entrepreneurs and provide vocational training to help them better brand and market rural products enabling them to take advantage of the chances the EU common market has to offer.The 23 month project was kicked-off in Macerata, Italy and the consortium consists of 7 partner institutions from 5 LLP countries (BE, CY, EL, IT, LV), including the Latvian Farmers Parliament and Coldiretti.
For more information and time plan, please visit the Farm Inc. project website www.farminc.eu.
