Oversupply in crop agriculture, canceled orders, delays in exports and continuous falling prices have posed challenges and opportunities to AgTech startups taking new marketing models for agriculture products release to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
“Agriculture in Thailand can be done with any types, anywhere, anytime and everyday” and that’s the reason Thailand ranked top in terms of farmland, crop production and exporting value of rice, rubber, cassava. The Covid-19 lockdown and shutdown directly affected Thai agricultural products, especially the tropical fruits in summer such as mango, rambutan, durian, mangosteen. When they could not be exported, together with almost 50% purchasing orders decreased from restaurants and supermarkets, leading to oversupply, lower prices, and loss.
The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) by Agro Business Creative Center (ABC Center), the coordination center of agricultural innovation connecting and seeking for innovation for agricultural supply chain through AgTech startups and promotes startup ecosystem nationwide, aims to change the middle-man economy to an alternative mutual market development with decentralized small groups for fair deals of farmers and consumers.
The objective coincides with the present situation where more consumers turn to online shopping instead of shopping at markets or supermarkets. It is an opportunity for a new market development in connecting consumers with farmers and AgTech startups who help enhance efficiency in marketing and products distribution through experiential design and any types of marketplace of B2C, B2B and B2G.
The Thai AgTech startups with new market creation platform are as follows:
Co-production ownership FarmToh, the platform connects farmers and consumers where the farmers are assured with distribution channel and certain income while consumers receive quality product that they want. With traceability, the crop products can be monitored since a stage of cultivation to harvest. A pre-order of Jasmine rice and Riceberry rice, for instant, received more than 75% responds. The farmers, meanwhile, can foster the model for agritourism.
Agricultural products e-bidding, Cropper Z which started from working on agricultural data system and they then used the data to build customer markets, especially the processing plants which required consistent production line and, the auction was originated as a consequence. It helps business sector to develop the quality and quantity agricultural products with controllable prices.
Online marketplace is a source where quality products from farmers delivered to consumers. Me Z a fruit commerce platform delivers quality fruits from farmers to consumers. Earth Organic, a co-creation branding focuses on organic goods provided directly to consumers.
Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer (B2B / B2C) supports the distribution of agricultural products via platforms such as Farmbook, the farming platform for farmers, service providers, sellers, buyers and consumers with multi-sided markets in an entire value-added agricultural supply chain. The market with network extension connecting everyone in the world supported by market data and production planning ensures that goods are constantly delivered to consumers. Freshket is an online marketplace for fresh food suppliers and restaurants. Nature Food is a food and agriculture products online marketplace. So-called “farm to table” application, it provides safe food and high quality products to consumers at homes and export to worldwide market with one stop service.
Apart from marketing by startups, the collaboration of every party is essentially leading to the “development of producers and consumers integration and the extension of local and international market through the central portal”, for example, the Department of Agriculture Extension provides data of farmers, logistics and supporting groups.
People have already known, Meicai, China’s unicorn farm-to-table startup. If the Thai AgTech startups are well supported, we may witness a Thai unicorn startup who is going to turn the Covid-19 crisis into opportunity and most importantly, the Thai farmers will be able to have sustainable and stable income.
