Redistributing Value: How end-to-end transparency and open collaboration benefit everyone

Let me tell you a little story: 

A few years ago in Switzerland we started an art gallery project to support local artists wanting to showcase their work. The basic idea behind it was: we had a space that was only use occasionally, so when no one uses it, someone else may as well benefit from it. We knew of several local artists who wanted to exhibit work in order to generate sales but they faced challenges when it came to finding and hiring venues for exhibitions: There were limited spaces available to display their work without the cost of renting such a space negating the actual sales. 

We wanted to collaborate with them, bringing what we had - a suitable space for a gallery - and invite others to bring what they had - artwork to showcase. It would mutually benefit us all. The space would be used and the local artists we wanted to support could display and sell their pieces. It’s become quite a fun project, and one that I’m looking forward to getting back to once this pandemic is over. 

But why am I telling you this story?

Well, personally, I believe that we can all be a bit more open and collaborative, working together to achieve a common goal. If the past year has shown us anything, it is the power of people working together –even if they’re not physically together–, bringing what they have to make something better and elevate the overall value for everyone. 

It’s this kind of thinking and enthusiasm for open collaboration that is core in what we are doing with farmer connect. The idea is to create a truly collaborative product which enables us to build a visibly transparent end-to-end supply chain. It’s a challenge, no doubt, but it’s something that I believe we need to do to better redistribute value across the market in a mutually beneficial way. 

What is open collaboration?

The concept of open collaboration isn’t actually that new. In fact, it’s been around in tech circles for years, notably in open source software, and has become an engine for innovation and production across multiple industries both on- and offline, –think Wikipedia, and anywhere where user-generated content is used to create some kind of added value such as knowledge building, public engagement or social impact. 

A 2013 university paper on open collaboration and its role in innovation states that it is: 

“any system of innovation or production that relies on goal-oriented yet loosely coordinated participants who interact to create a product (or service) of economic value, which they make available to contributors and noncontributors alike.”

I know the world may look quite different now to a decade ago, but the power of open collaboration is still as innovative as it has always been. Instead of working in silos, collaboration actually opens the door to much more and gets us there faster. 

At farmer connect, open collaboration between manufacturers, traders, exporters, cooperatives, bankers, brand owners, retailers, producers and farmers is what we believe will build a more transparent end-to-end supply chain and by partnering together with like-minded brands and corporations wanting to achieve the same, we will get there much quicker than if we tried to go it alone.

What do we mean by end-to-end transparency?

It’s all very well saying we believe in open collaboration and end-to-end transparency but I should clarify what we really mean by end-to-end. 

The truth is, end-to-end transparency hasn’t always meant transparency from the true start to true finish of a product journey. The data has always been there, but it’s not always been possible to make it visible. But as a rising generation of consumers becomes ever more “woke”, the pressure is on across every industry to make sure there is increased visibility through the whole supply chain. That means we really need to cover from the very beginning all the way to the very end of the product journey. 

The good news is, it’s not impossible. It’s something we see happening in crowdfunding projects and even in news reported via social media. Twitter, for example, has provided a platform for eye-witness experiences to filter much faster into the news process. Complementary to only receiving the journalist’s report of what has happened, we’ve been able to get the personal words from someone “on the ground” almost immediately. And that, in a sense, is a type of end-to-end transparency. We can all read the eye-witnesses tweet, and we’re not waiting to see it reported in a journalist’s report only.

So, when it comes to the consumer goods market, real end-to-end transparency really needs to start at the hands of the farmer and finish in your kitchen. That’s our passion at farmer connect. To actually start the journey at the farmer. It’s already possible in so many industries, so why not make it possible in the consumer goods market?

Open collaboration, end-to-end transparency and social impact

Our daily digital life has never made open collaboration and end-to-end transparency easier to execute and to really bridge that first and last mile of the supply chain. Digital supply network innovations let businesses drive the supply chain efficiency and result in improved customer satisfaction. And increased customer satisfaction inevitably leads to an increase in demand and therefore revenue. 

I believe that when we harness open collaboration successfully, we don’t only build true end-to-end transparency, we are actually able to have an increased social impact. It’s a byproduct of the nature of open collaboration. By that I mean that the added value created by allowing people to see the complete end-to-end journey, from farmer’s field to your kitchen cupboard, becomes shared value through open collaboration. And shared value is mutually beneficial to everyone involved in the supply chain. 

The consumer sees a brand they can trust and purchase from with confidence that their personal values are reflected by the company. The brand, manufacturers, and retailers benefit from doing business with organisations they can trust, a trust which filters down to the consumer. And finally, the farmer sees the added value of consumer loyalty, open collaboration and end-to-end transparency via demand and revenue growth that filters back to them. And that’s what we want to achieve at farmer connect.