Strategic Market Deployment Planning: Farm-to-Table Logistics Platforms

摘要

This study introduces a data-driven market deployment planning methodology toward applicability in the context of farm-to-table logistics platforms. A market deployment process produces a series of alternative roadmaps consisting of sets of markets targeted for deployment at each phase of development of the business. Such deployment must take into consideration both the downstream side of markets, such as urban agglomerations with restaurants, institutions, and households demanding fresh and local food, and their upstream side consisting of farms producing and selling fresh and local food. The methodology first selects executive factors and assembles databases linking these to the markets. Next, a heuristic model is proposed to generate a deployment plan. The outcome of the planning process is a set of alternative roadmaps which allow companies to achieve market expansion plans and profit objectives under limited resources and managed risks. A use case of the methodology is described, based on a North-American start-up whose platform empowers a fast and efficient transparent food supply chain. It allows restaurants and chefs to order the food to be cooked and offered in their next-day menu directly from farms.