Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
16
16.1
Introduction
utilities of form, time and space: standardi-
zation, packaging, storage, transport) and
later distribution to the consumer.
Nowadays, it is frequent to mistake dis-
tribution for marketing, as the stock stage is
normally non-existent as the growers, usu-
ally grouped into associative entities, do
this. Equally, the preparation for consump-
tion is usually assumed by the grower's asso-
ciations or by the distribution companies.
The marketing process of horticultural
products is usually considered as a set of
elemental processes, or marketing services,
among which we may highlight: transport,
storage, industrialization, standardization
and normalization, packaging, buying and
selling, financing and risk assumption
(Caldentey, 1972).
The marketing agents are the individu-
als or entities, which take part in the mar-
keting processes, there being a distinction
between direct agents, who become owners
of the merchandise, and indirect agents,
who never become owners.
During recent decades, and especially
in high added value products such as green-
house vegetables, the number of agents
involved in their marketing has notably
decreased, with an increasing participation
of the growers in the process, and the sub-
sequent sharing in the associated added
value.
The marketing of horticultural products, in
a broad sense, is the process of getting the
products from the farm to the consumer.
It involves, therefore, the operations and
transactions related to the movement, stor-
age, processing and distribution of the prod-
ucts. The perishable nature of greenhouse
horticultural products, preferably destined
for short-term fresh consumption, gives a
specific character to their marketing, as
these products are not normally subject to
long-term conservation processes (freezing,
dehydration, canning).
Marketing adds value to the products
for their positioning in space (placing them
where the consumers are) and in time (offer-
ing them at the right moment), and in the
form (adapting the product to the require-
ments and likes of the consumer) and the
possession (making possible the transfer-
ence of the product's ownership to the
consumer).
Traditionally three major functions
have been considered in the marketing of
agricultural products: (i) stock; (ii) process-
ing (preparation for consumption); and
(iii) distribution. Stocking allows for group-
ing batches to reach a minimum volume,
that allows for their preparation for the con-
sumption (set of operations that provide
