Ontario Hazelnut Association focus on marketing illustrates positive industry progress
The 15th Annual Ontario Hazelnut Association (OHA) symposium illustrated positive progression within a nascent industry.
While earlier events tended to focus on varietal selection and planting, this year’s agenda featured multiple components investigating marketing opportunities for a growing crop.
“As the industry is growing, you want to ensure the farmers are able to commercialize their product,” said University of Guelph business management PhD candidate Jonathan Parkes Thur., Mar. 21 in Tillsonburg.
Parkes was a featured presenter and also an enthusiastic networker, both sharing and developing information around a joint Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)/OHA study on scalability in the provincial hazelnut industry. Operating under the direction of Dr. Kalinga Jagoda, it is titled: ‘Capture the value of Ontario hazelnuts.’
“We’re working hand-in-hand with the OHA on how to tap into that potential,” Parkes explained.
He brings an undergraduate commerce degree in management to the table, building on that formal education in part via interviews with experienced producers. A resident of Guelph, Parkes has embraced an exercise broadening his understanding and respect for the challenges farmers face.
“It has really helped me gain an appreciation.”
The study’s title refers to investigating options beyond simply selling raw hazelnuts to processors in bulk, a process seen as failing to return full value to farmers. In effect, rather than simply being the core element in the supply chain, seeking opportunity along the extended value chain between producer and end consumer.
“That’s essentially what we’re looking at,” said Parkes. “How do we tap into that and do so efficiently and effectively.”
Jennifer Ross, Executive Director, Ontario Co-operative Association was on hand to encourage consideration of the collective approach summed up in the International Co-operative Alliance definition.
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Co-operatives are people-centred enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their membership to realize their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations,’ it states.
The Ontario Co-operative Association (https://ontario.coop) is in effect, a co-op for co-operatives, offering educational tools and resources for close to 100 related organizations within the province.
Co-ops have a business component serving their members’ needs said Ross during her presentation, as well as the cornerstone of democratic governance from their membership.
They require capital to get off the ground and the willingness to work together to better accomplish goals which would be challenging individually.
She cited several co-operative enterprises as examples including Gay Lea Foods, founded by 1,300 dairy farmers in Ontario and Manitoba; and the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative (ODGC).
The ODGC was formed by producers with the goal of marketing and shipping members’ milk for the best achievable price, said Ross. New members pay a one-time membership fee and must also purchase shipping shares. In return, they receive transport, quality control services and a product pool large enough to attract and retain larger clients.
“They wouldn’t be able to do that individually,” said Ross. “One farmer is not going ‘I have three litres of milk,’ they’re saying ‘Our co-op has 1,000 litres.’”
It’s a method of creating critical mass and dependable supply a major grocery chain would require prior to committing to adding products and dedicating space on a shelf. The approach also creates the potential for better return through negotiating from a stronger position representing larger numbers of producers with shared interest.
The co-operative model is extremely versatile says Ross. “It’s really unique to your industry, you can tailor it to what you want.”
They can be run in various models including for-profit or not-for-profit, directing surplus funds directly back to members or alternatively, into industry-building initiatives. However, as other business models, they must be based on a solid and successful business plan.
“It needs to make money, it needs to be viable,” said Ross.
The co-operative difference, she concluded, is in who owns the entity, who controls it and who benefits from surpluses at the end of the day.
“And why shouldn’t it be the farmers?”
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