Hamed Kayello
James Ganzer
Stephen Toth
Hazem Jadallah
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Chris Laszlo
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The opportunity for Bioconexion is to streamline the way rural growers and metropolitan buyers come together through creation of a virtual marketplace. The concept of connecting people has been transformational, especially for rural growers who are now able to transition unutilized or underutilized land into profit. Regional products are sustainable and in demand with metropolitan consumers and restaurateurs. Bioconexion connects demand directly to the source of the product and to the families that produce them.
A technology platform would allow them to identify and leverage more land and communities throughout Argentina to meet the growing demand for sustainable goods impacting lives. This allows Bioconexion to promote good health and well-being at a larger scale, encouraging more farmers to stay close to the land through innovation (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).
The current state of the Bioconexion model is a handshake deal. Manpower is required to identify land and growers within the Argentinian countryside and to market the products to buyers within Buenos Aires. Their ability to scale is predicated upon their ability to grow in numbers (of people). Creating an online marketplace allows them to supplement their individual efforts by allowing buyers and farmers to opt-in and connect with communities throughout Argentina. The origins of the business are in the community of Jujuy, an area that represents less than 2% of Argentina’s land. 33% of Argentina’s population resides within Buenos Aires. This marketplace is underserved and the land is under utilized. Bioconexion has an opportunity to grow demand and scale impact within Argentina as a whole and potentially beyond.
The digital solution proposed to Bioconexion allows them to provide a “New Way of Thinking about Food.” The purposal is to connect and unite people through land and food, and expand the demand base to reach buyers over 900 miles away from the farms. The e-commerce platform aims to connect customers to a community of farmers and allows them to do virtual transactions. Bioconexion promotes health and well-being and serves as the marketer for farmers' communities and intents to leverage the digital platform to highlight the benefits of buying from local producers.
Changing the way the community looks at food and implementing a digital platform is a philanthropic innovation. It improves the agriculture industry, leverages current technological advancements, and establishes commitment from farmers to the land and from food buyers to their local farm. This innovative solution addresses the “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure” UN SDG.
“Feeding with purpose entails the best deal for humanity. Try to separate yourself from earth and you'll see it's impossible.” – Juan
“Food is a social responsibility for others.” - Juan
“Eat with a purpose.” - Juan
Bioconexion is already positively impacting the farming community and connecting them to customers by promoting quality and healthy organic food. However, there exists an opportunity to scale it further through serving other communities within Argentina, that have land, by leveraging producers who haven’t realized their full potential. For example, the majority of crops yielded and sold comes directly from Jujuy, a community that accounts for less than 2% of Argentina’s square miles. A digital platform provides them with a mechanism to connect with more consumers directly, regardless of location.
Furthermore, serving a larger area translates into better farmers commitment to the land which leads to better food quality. This adds value to the consumer looking for healthy locally grown produce therefore, establishing a flourishing relationship between the producer and the consumer. Ultimately, such connectedness establishes a sustainable economic growth for the business and more importantly, the community.A digital platform provides them with a mechanism to connect with more consumers directly, regardless of location, to expand into new markets. However, serving a larger area requires more overhead. A digital platform enables Bioconexion to become a more sustainable business by incorporating e-commerce not only for reaching a larger consumer-base, but also as a digital marketing strategy. Accordingly, the digital innovation eliminates the need to hire more employees to serve the expanded marketplace.
Also, a digital platform helps with business growth without burdening employees with long hour days and repetitive tasks. It would allow employees to spend more quality time with their families, doing extracurricular activities for their well-being, and practicing meditation. This in turn positively impacts business since employees would have less stress and increased focus and productivity.
By expanding into the digital platform, the business could connect more producers with consumers and thus reduce food waste. This would not only help the environment, but also provides capital for the farmers to grow more food in the next season. The result is a committed farmer to planting the land which leads to steady revenues all year long. With a better source of revenue, farmers could better serve their communities and give back.
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Juan Ignacio Gerardi, Owner and Founder
Bioconexion aims to connect and unite people through land in order to develop clean food value chains that could positively impact the land, farmers, and consumers. Bioconexion works with local families and provides them technical and emotional support needed for agricultural work. Through raising awareness about the origin of organic food produced in local farms and the positive health and economical impact, Bioconexion aims to connect producers with consumers to generate profit.