Strategic Planning for a Start-Up International small Organic Quinoa Export Company - Exporting from Peru to Germany. A case-based study

Abstract

El crecimiento de la población producirá un aumento en demanda de productos agrícolas en los próximos años. Sin embargo, las pequeñas granjas que producen un gran porcentaje de estos productos agrícolas ya no son rentables y cada vez más agricultores abandonan sus campos. El negocio de exportación de quinua se presenta como una solución. Por otro lado, Alemania, como la economía más grande de Europa, se viene convirtiendo en un mercado muy atractivo para este producto. En este trabajo se planea crear un modelo de negocio sostenible y eficiente que permita a los pequeños agricultores tratar a la agricultura como negocio.

A growing population and rising incomes will produce an increase in demand for agricultural products with higher nutritional properties in the next years. However, the small farms which produce a great percentage of the current market agricultural products are no longer profitable, and more and more farmers are forced to abandon their fields and migrate to the cities, increasing in this way the social problem. The agricultural Quinoa export business presents itself as a profitable solution for small farmers. The Quinoa, also known as the Andean “super grain” is a good source of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins; and it is a gluten-free food alternative. Furthermore, it is a profitable crop because its price surged by 600 percent between 2005 and 2013. Germany, as the largest economy in Europe, the fourth-largest worldwide and one of the biggest importers of goods in the world is an attractive destination for Quinoa. For instance, the total value of quinoa imports between Germany and the world was almost 12 million euros only in 2019 The objective of this thesis is to establish a strategic plan for the development of a new small agricultural Quinoa export business from Peru to Germany, and in this way create a sustainable and efficient business model that allows small farmers who are in most cases subsistence-oriented producers to treat farming as a business.