Post on 02-Jul-2015
description
Specialty Crop Market Opportunity
December 9, 2010Dana R. Lonn, PE
Managing Director, Center for Advanced Technology
The Toro Company
What is the market opportunity?
• What is needed to make a potential new market successful?– Meets an identified customer need either
articulated or unarticulated
– Solves a customer business problem where value exceed the cost
– Has sufficient scale to be worth the investment to develop the product
– Has geographic diversity
Hypothesis
• Mid-sized acreage sites represent a larger opportunity– 25 acres to 1,000 acres– <25 acres too small to justify automation
• Hobby farm• Large garden• Low revenue
– >1,000 acres large enough to justify custom automation
Acres Specialty Crops
Medium Operations
5
Larger Market of Farms & Total Acres Percentage, Strongest Area of Potential
Source: 2007 Census of Agriculture
Farms 25-1000 Acres
6
Potential Market Spotted: Greater Amount of Farms, With Largest Amount of Acreage
Large Operations
7
Not Enough Farms to Make This Market a Feasible Choice
Source: 2007 Census of Agriculture
Small Operations
8
Largest Market of Growers, Yet Acreage Small & Logistics Potentially Not Feasible
Source: 2007 Census of Agriculture
Worldwide Statistics
9
*Includes: Pecans, Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios
Next Steps
• Test the hypothesis
• Watch customers to identify automation opportunities
• Better understand business model
• Are there opportunities to combine across crops to increase the scale?
• Develop proof of concept prototypes to test innovation