Salads? What about the map?
Actually, Mi Huerto Web is all about territorial management, creating online market places, managing these on the ground and above all it is about nerdy stuff such as data management and projecting future production in order to pair it with future demand. That requires planning and in the field it often requires a map.
So why does our story start with salads?
We thrive to ignite local, fair, transparent and sustainable economy in Chile and abroad. Selling all sorts of fresh produce like salads, which a client has to buy on a weekly basis, creates opportunities to get to know the client over time and to create a significant client pool. The plan is to offer clients EVERYTHING that is produced in their vicinity by displaying all the roadside signboard of farmers online.
And we know that the clients who have tasted our products will come back to us because they are the freshest, safest and best on the market. In fact they are not even our products. We merely present the future harvest of farmers to clients who live nearby, effectively eliminating intermediaries.
Clients will know the 'who, where, what and how' of the food they eat. Farmers will earn 4 TIMES as much as previously! We bring the two sides together with 100% transparency, for mutual benefit, and with a little help of technology. Oh, did we mention that selling future harvest enables us to deliver always....
Harvest of the same day - in less than 6h to your table!
The main problem for small farmers is the market itself.
We have analysed the reasons for the decline of small scale family farming on the Latin American continent. The main problem is lack of access to markets. More legislation makes it more and more difficult for farmers to sell their products in the formal economy. Mi Huerto Web legalises all transactions by emitting a third party bill.
However, the solution is not that simple.
In order to participate in the market, farmers must compete by scale. This means specialising in monocultures and trying to sell more quantity of the same product for the lowest price per unit. Attributes like taste, smell, food safety, variety, sustainable farming practices etc. loose their siginificance. Small farmers, by definition, cannot compete on these terms because they do not own enough land and do not have the means to invest in technology. However, they tick all the boxes of attributes that should actually matter to us.
Small farmers have so much to offer - we would be stupid to let them down.
Solution: We sell the future production of small farmers.
We have developed a systemic solution. Selling future production from a specific farmer to a specific client creates the market conditions under which a small farmer can thrive. This 1 on 1 relationship enables him or her to offer diversified production in small batches 1m2 at a time. Importantly, the farmer sets his own prices and no intermediary will eat away the profit margin. This increases the income 4fold!
Selling future harvest offers the following benefits to farmers:
- Fixed prices as opposed to fluctuating prices (which change daily on traditional markets)
- Longer time window enables to sell more production and reduces food waste
- Regular income instead of high risk income once in a while
- Guidance for taking the right sowing decision
- Working capital in advance
- Dilution of risk
ONLY under these conditions will farmers be able to compete in the long term and will clients be able to access the best quality food. Farmers will also be able to send their children to school or pay the cost to see a doctor. Importantly, they will actively contribute to protecting biodiversity with their small scale, diversified farming, which also reduces the carbon footprint.
Logistics
We have developed a unique methodology to handle logistics in rural areas, which allows us to be efficient when fetching small quantities of produce from many dispersed farmers (see graphic below). Each day of the week, our territorial manager delivers fresh harvest from one productive cluster to an assigned consumption community. He/she also injects a constant human component to the quality control system, which is indispensable when operating in rural areas of Latin America.
The big challenge is to organise and manage the 1 on 1 relationships between farmers and clients at scale and implementing such a model in the field must be coupled with a healthy dose of technology. Therefore we rely heavily on blending territorial management know-how with our nerdy data management know-how to create optimised delivery routes, field reports, automatic billing etc. Our methodology was inspired by lean management, reducing complexity and working in small batches, and micro-economics of competitiveness.
How to grow the business?
A territory has a limited productive capacity. This means that scaling from a first territorial unit to a second, third etc. means cloning the structure of a territory again, and again, and again in different places. This makes for a robust growth system of independently operated territories, which are sustained by a core team with fixed administrative costs. The more territories there are, the greater the overall cost efficiency per territory. Of course more territories can also create more synergies because certain products from one territory can be sold to clients of the other territories.
Now back to the start: Why did we begin with salads?
Once we have created a significant client pool by selling fresh produce we will offer many more products to the same clients, where possible even in the same delivery. Our talented team is already working on pilot projects, which will create the synergies that are necessary to create a thriving local economy. These prototypes are:
- Selling inventory products ranging from marmalades, honey, cheese, artisanal beer, spices, wool etc.
- Adapting our sales channel for urban agriculture
- Creating a fair and transparent market for wood and related products for combustion
- Creating a tourism platform for 'future' entertainment services
- Creating a market for conservation and ecosystem services, effectively setting precedents for the innovative and new Chilean law of the 'Right to Conservation'
What inspires us every day?
Our aim is to preserve small scale farming in the countries where it still constitutes the back bone of the local economy. However, what really inspires us is to receive the gratification of so many great persons who need our help. Because behind every salad exists a human story. And we thrive to transmit these stories to you.
Crowd funding campaign: Want to help small farmers?
We are currently preparing a crowdfunding campaign to raise US$100.000. The aim is to build a fully fledged Mi Huerto Web territory for 75 farmers and 600 clients in Chile in order to demonstrate to investors how our solution works at scale. This 12 months project will be the culmination of 3 years of hard conceptional work with 3 pilot projects in the field. Please spread the word about us and help us be successful when we present our campaign. Want to help us right away to preserve small scale farming where it still exists? Contact me at: stephane@mihuertoweb.cl
Can selling future harvest work in your country?
If you want to know how get in touch with me at: stephane@mihuertoweb.cl
Want to know more about us?
If you speak Spanish, check out our Ted Talk below!
And don't miss out on this documentary about us (Spanish only).
If you don't speak Spanish, check out this video in English language.
Finally, it is time to meet the team.
Thx. for spreading the word
Do you like what we are doing? Please help us be successful for when we present our crowdfunding campaign. Share and like us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. We are looking forward to be in touch!
Credits:
Created with images by thejourney1972 (South America addicted) - "Mapa de la Carretera Austral: tramo Puerto Rio Tranquilo hacia Villa Cerro Castillo (Región de Aysén, Chile)." • Francisco Galarza - "untitled image"