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Blue Sky Ranch: Sustainable Meat

Vida Morkunas; Kristin Matheson

Product #:9B20A024
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sustainability
Setting:Canada, 2018
Details:Case (PDF) • 15 pages • 2020-03-27

Subjects:

Sales and marketingLeadership and managing peopleEntrepreneurshipMarketingManagement

Industries:

Agriculture sector

Geography:

North AmericaCanada
Your Price:$9.71

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In 2018, the owner of Blue Sky Ranch, a heritage pig farm in British Columbia, Canada, was reviewing her business options. She had been producing premium-priced, high-quality pork for two years; however, despite growing demand from restaurants, grocers, and consumers for high-end, sustainably raised, free-range meat, Blue Sky Ranch was not yet profitable. The owner faced several challenges in processing and delivering her product to clients, and faced competition from large meat producers who had stronger relationships within the food supply chain. The business was operating at a loss and was continually constrained by federal and provincial regulations. What options were available to ensure the future of her business?

Learning Objectives

This case can be used in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on entrepreneurship, agricultural management, business strategy, and marketing. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to
  • evaluate the positioning of a small business’s products and services in both a business-to-consumer market and a business-to-business market;
  • evaluate the current financial plan of a small business and create a strategy that enables the organization to break even within a few years, while remaining true to its core values;
  • understand the impact of provincial and federal regulations governing an agricultural business, and how definitions can impact marketing strategies;
  • create a business strategy that enables an organization to market its products through channels while maintaining contact with end customers.
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Case Study: Blue Sky Ranch: Sustainable Meat (English version) | Ivey Publishing