In his speech during Nunhems Italia's Befe (Business Event For Experts) held at FICO Bologna on 19th September 2018, Enzo Baglieri, professor of Operations & Technology at SDA Bocconi, explained that prices can be kept high only by differentiating the products. Everybody can make a sale lowering prices, but it damages both the product and the work behind it. It's not enough just to make a high-quality production, as everybody does that.
Stefano Carducci from Nunhems
Sales director Stefano Carducci started by saying that "consumers will be the ones suggesting what we need to produce with their choices. We mustn't be afraid of change, we need to accept it as a challenge."
Jose Antonio Salinas Reyes
CEO Jose Antonio Salinas Reyes then illustrated the latest introductions at Nunhems, a Dutch seed company established in 1916 which became a BASF partner in August 2018. With 1400 employees and a turnover of over one billion, Nunhems Italia is growing and capable of tackling the market.
Professor Baglieri explained he has a "secret recipe useful for all entrepreneurs. The ingredients are Skill, Connection, Community and Clients. Skills must be reused and rethought to offer something new. Connections are essential, especially between businesses. Community means being capable of working as a team within a company. Clients are those who decide everything but it's almost impossible to know their real needs."
But what do clients want? According to Baglieri, the answer is experience. Retailers often seize the stories of producers and companies making them their own and using them for their slogans and images. "They communicate, and only leave product value to producers, which is low compared to the amount of work done."
"We need to realize that supply exceeds demand and products risk being the same. We need to stop looking only at the product and aim at improving the quality of life of consumers. It's the only way to stand out and obtain the added value that is often lacking."
According to professor Baglieri, creating relationships and not only transactions is a concept that can also be applied to the fresh produce sector. "In the Italian economy, agriculture as a primary sector represents only 2.2% of the GDP, while services represent 73% of it. We need to be careful, otherwise someone might say it's useless to support a sector that has so little influence on the country's wealth."
"You manage to produce a lot even though there's few of you thanks to genetic selection and technologies, which generate high yields. But innovation can't only mean productivity, as it must also satisfy consumer needs. At the moment, retailers can't innovate the produce they display. Don't let them beat you to it."
"In order to put clients at the center, you need to listen to them. They might not want a product as you've conceived it, even though it's the best."
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40019 Sant'Agata Bolognese (BO)
Tel.: +39 051 681 7411
Web: www.nunhems.it