<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PHTV9K7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">
Loading
Skip to Main Content
Product cover image for Sea Cider: Succession Planning for a Regenerative Business

Sea Cider: Succession Planning for a Regenerative Business

Alex Berthin, Saeed Rahman, Oana Branzei, Natalie Slawinski

Product #:W43820
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Strategy, Sustainability
Setting:Canada, 2025
Details:Case (PDF) • 13 pages • 2025-08-22

Subjects:

Succession planningLeadership and managing peopleStrategyManagement

Industries:

Agriculture sector

Geography:

CanadaNorth America
Your Price:$9.71

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

  • Free Educator Copy
  • Free Teaching Notes
  • Build your coursepack
  • Discounted academic price

AWARD WINNER: Third Place in the 2025 Ivey Publishing Sustainability Case Writing Awards



Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse (Sea Cider), an organic farm and cidery in Saanichton, British Columbia, prioritized regenerative agricultural practices that benefited the environment and local community. However, in August 2024, after nearly two decades of running a successful values-driven enterprise, Sea Cider’s founder and chief executive officer was contemplating retirement and, hence, succession plans for the business. Three options were before her: establishing an employee-owned trust, selling to a buyer interested in purchasing a turnkey business while keeping Sea Cider’s existing team, or selling to a strategic buyer looking to integrate the business into an existing portfolio. The right choice would preserve Sea Cider’s values and ensure its profitability.

Learning Objectives

This case can be used for teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level courses and custom executives or advanced modules on regeneration and can be integrated into foundational classes on entrepreneurship and sustainability. It can be taught in courses spanning multiple disciplines, interdisciplinary programs, or as part of field education.

After working through this case, students will be able to do the following:
  • Recognize the novelty and possibility of organizing with and for nature, under natural-resource constraints and in ways that improve community well-being and ecosystem health.
  • Explore the constraints and opportunities of regenerative agriculture and regenerative business more generally.
  • Discover the trade-offs associated with adopting and scaling regenerative agricultural practices.
  • Discuss intergenerational trends and their effects on the evolution of businesses in lifestyle and nature-based industries, like destination craft cideries.
  • Build a strategic succession plan that balances a small-business owner’s legacy and financial security.
  • Appreciate the critical importance of teams in ensuring the continuity of values and customize succession plans to secure team buy-in under different types of new owners or ownership models.
Loading
Case Study: Sea Cider: Succession Planning for a Regenerative Business (English version) | Ivey Publishing