University of Kentucky

HortBiz Home Mission Publications Markets / Direct Marketing Organics In Kentucky General Industry Agricultural Economics Horticulture College of Agriculture New Crop Opportunities Center For additional information about this project, please contact Jim Mansfield or Tim Woods. University of Kentucky Department of Agricultural Economics 400 Charles E. Barnhart Bldg. Lexington, KY 40546-0276 Phone: 859-257-5762 Fax: 859-323-1913 Last Update: May 31, 2006

Company Information 1. Please give your job title: 2. Please check the categories that describe your company's activities. Check all that apply. Grower Shipper Packer Broker Wholesaler Retailer Other (specify): 3. Please check the category that best describes your company's annual sales in 2005     less than $1 million     $1-25 million     more than $25 million 4. Please complete the following table 2001 2006 2011 Total warehouse produce SKU's Organic produce SKU's Organic produce percentage of total produce sales Organic Produce Procurement 5. Please complete the following table 2001 2006 2011 How many produce suppliers do you use? How many organic produce suppliers do you use? What percentage of organic produce purchases is from your top 3 organic produce suppliers? 6. Please provide estimates of organic purchase percentages sourced from suppliers at various distances relative to your company. Suppliers are located . . . Locally or less than 100 miles Regionally or between 100 and 500 miles Outside of region or more than 500 miles Foreign markets (Imports) 2001 2006 7. Currently, does your company cooperate with organic produce growers to provide any of the following kinds of assistance: No Some Extensively More than with conventional growers Yes No Production planning Input purchases Technical field assistance Financial assistance Organic certification N.A. N.A. 8. What percentage of your produce sales is procured under some kind of contract? (By contracting, we mean any agreement where multiple orders are placed over time, e.g. an entire season or year, at a predetermined price and/or quality.) 2001 2006 2011 Conventional produce Organic 9. Based on the scale provided below, please rate the following as challenges you face in organic produce 1 = no significant challenge        2 = some challenge        5 = substantial challenge 2001 2006 Finding adequate suppliers 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Obtaining competitive prices 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Adequate assortment of SKU's 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Seasonality of supply 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Quality consistency 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Distribution efficiency 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Spoilage loss 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge Packaging consistency 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 1 - No Significant Challenge 2 - Some Challenge 3 - Substantial Challenge 10. Please consider how your relationships with your suppliers of organic produce have changed over the past 5 years. 1 = large decline  2 = slight decline   3 = stable   4= slight increase   5 = large increase Use of e-commerce 1 - Large decline 2 - Slight decline 3 - Stable 4 - Slight increase 5 - Large increase Average size of organic supplier 1 - Large decline 2 - Slight decline 3 - Stable 4 - Slight increase 5 - Large increase SKU's per supplier 1 - Large decline 2 - Slight decline 3 - Stable 4 - Slight increase 5 - Large increase Purchasing from suppliers specializing in organic 1 - Large decline 2 - Slight decline 3 - Stable 4 - Slight increase 5 - Large increase Number of conventional suppliers newly offering an organic produce line 1 - Large decline 2 - Slight decline 3 - Stable 4 - Slight increase 5 - Large increase Organic produce marketing 11. What percentage of your organic produce sales is currently sold through the following outlets? Foodservice firm Conventional retail grocery Organic and natural food store Other: 12. What are the impacts of the entry of mass merchandisers (Wal-Mart, etc.) in the organic food sector on your business? Insignificant Some Significant Lower margins for organic produce Greater demand for organic produce Increased competition for suppliers Increased selling to large retailers 13. Based on the scale provided below, please provide your best estimate of how demand for the following items will evolve over the next 5 years 1 = large decline    2 = slight decline    3 = stable    4 = slight increase    5 = large increase USDA certified organic produce 1 - large decline 2 - slight decline 3 - stable 4 - slight increase 5 - large increase Eco-labeled produce 1 - large decline 2 - slight decline 3 - stable 4 - slight increase 5 - large increase Certified-sustainable produce 1 - large decline 2 - slight decline 3 - stable 4 - slight increase 5 - large increase 14. Based on the scale provided below, please rate the following as challenges you face in selling organic produce to retailers 1 = no significant challenge    2 = some challenge    3 = substantial challenge 2001 2006 Merchandising support 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge Slotting/promotional fees 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge Trace-back demand 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge 1 - no significant challenge 2 - some challenge 3 - substantial challenge System-Wide Issues 15. Have you initiated programs, possibly in coordination with your organic produce suppliers, addressing the following industry issues? No Some Extensively Is this issue more important for organic produce? No Same Yes HACCP standards Third-party certification Product traceability Cold chain maintenance Quality specificatons Information sharing (EDI) Demand forecasting Category management Returnable containers Pallet bar coding Cross-docking Inventory turns Vendor managed inventory Automatic inventory replenishment    Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this survey. Survey results aggregated from all respondents will be available from my office and on our web site: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/HortBiz/

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