Situation Analisys
The highly fragmented and regulated European agricultural market is in the process of liberalization and harmonization. Dramatic reductions in prices and guaranteed sales of agricultural products are to be expected (including fewer state subsidies). Accordingly, the procurement, production and sales procedures of farmers, and of the whole agricultural industry, will have to change drastically.
Switzerland was selected as the starting country due to its highly in transparent market structure and the strong partnerships in place with the farming community. This allows build-up of a favorable capability platform in an almost captive market environment.
AgriGate will differentiate itself from other start-up companies through its privileged access to customers and its wide service offering, resulting in a short time-to-liquidity and creating high entry and switching barriers for its competitors.
While most start-ups have to invest enormous amounts of money to build site content and traffic, AgriGate can capitalize on the established brand name, know-how resources and off-line media channels (newspaper, magazine, direct mail) of its partner associations.
AgriGate is focusing on commerce (auctions and shopping mall), content and community services. In fact, AgriGate does not want to be considered as a virtual e-commerce company, but rather as a professional service company using the Internet as its main communication channel.
Therefore, a wide range of vital information, consulting and decision support services will complement the marketplace from the beginning, and will be accessible to everyone involved in agriculture through all channels of communication (e.g., mail, phone, fax).
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