'Producing a Competitive Advantage' Report Describes Agri-Tech in the San Joaquin Valley.

Business Editors

MODESTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 2000

The forces of change impacting the agri-food chain--globalization, consolidation, market fragmentation, new technologies, the transparency of environmental challenges--are revolutionizing agricultural, according to a new report released today from the Great Valley Center. The effects are especially significant in the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley.

"California is on the front end of technological advances in agriculture, establishing new trends that will be of great benefit to the nation and global marketplace," said Trade and Commerce Agency Secretary Lon S. Hatamiya. "This report reflects the San Joaquin Valley's importance to the State's $26.8-billion agriculture industry and offers recommendations to enhance the Valley's position as a global agricultural leader."

The report, Producing a Competitive Advantage: Agri-Tech in the San Joaquin Valley, was prepared by Nuffer, Smith Tucker, Inc. and Willard Bishop Consulting Ltd. for New Valley Connexions, a partnership program of the Modesto-based Great Valley Center and the California Trade and Commerce Agency, Division of Science, Technology & Innovation.

"Agriculture, the foundation of the San Joaquin Valley economy, faces a transformation that will affect every commodity, trade organization, producer, and processor," stated Carol Whiteside, Great Valley Center President. "This report explains the implications of technology for agriculture and describes where we can best focus to remain a world leader in the industry."

Traditionally, agricultural commodities moved from producer to consumer through a multi-tiered marketing system that included many small companies and depended upon a high degree of verbal interaction between buyers and sellers, according to the report. That is quickly changing.

The new model suggests that fewer but larger and more powerful buyers and sellers are emerging, making it easier for suppliers and retailers to establish longer-term, one-to-one relationships. This movement takes us away from "one product fits all" to a focus on the needs of specialized groups and individuals. It leads to the creation of innovative uses, new varieties, increased convenience, and healthier products.

"The trends we see today are very big, very connected, and require a fundamentally different approach to the business of agriculture," said Kerry Tucker, CEO of Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, Inc. "Once driven by supply, the agri-food chain is now racing to meet the demands of an ever-changing consumer- and technology-driven marketplace. New technological opportunities such as precision agriculture also provide San Joaquin Valley agriculture with approaches that begin to address environmental challenges."

Technology is both a force for change and a tool for achieving competitive advantage, according to the report. It enables management to make decisions faster, at lower cost, and more efficiently. It also allows the entrepreneur to go beyond the conventional, to test new ideas, and to implement new strategic options.

Producing a Competitive Advantage offers five major strategic recommendations:

          1.  Redefine the role of production agriculture in the New
            Economy and facilitate an education initiative to help
            individual producers and processors better understand the
            changes they face.

          2.  Use technology to address major environmental challenges
            focusing on air and water quality issues.

          3.  Make the San Joaquin Valley a center of research and
            development for agri-based new product development.

          4.  Provide the San Joaquin Valley agricultural community with
            access to broadband technology infrastructure.

          5.  Develop a marketing identity, including brands.

Producing a Competitive Advantage: Agri-Tech in the San Joaquin Valley is available through the Great Valley Center or online at http://www.greatvalley.org/nvc/agri_tech.htm.

More information about New Valley Connexions and the Great Valley Center can be accessed through www.greatvalley.org, at 911 13th Street, Modesto, CA 95354, [phone], or [e-mail].

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, Inc can be contacted at 3170 Fourth Ave., Third Floor, San Diego, CA 92103, [phone] or [e-mail].